Bubblegum Crisis: A Farewell to Arms part 4
by Purple Knight Saber
Summary: Yumeko and Xania's road trip to Arizona is the stuff dreams are made of, until Yumeko's past catches up to her, literally. The Knight Sabers, having exposed the truth behind the summit, must now face down Genom one more time, for her and the world's sake
1. Plans for spring break

Thought FTA part 3 took a long time? Well, this one took even longer! I have reasons, though: last year of college, my dad dying (he was sick for a long time, but still...), graduating with my BA, work, Grandpa dying, more work...not exactly things conducive to a writing environment. But here it is, at last: part 4, the conclusion to the Farewell to Arms story! Written between January 2005 and December 2006 (mostly between October and December).

-----

It had been crossing my mind more and more lately, despite having been here in Sacramento for the past seven months, dancing in front of my eyes like the green spots that appear after a flashbulb goes off in your face. It was crossing my mind, despite me not believing in the thing called fate. The thought was there when I woke up, when I went to sleep, when I left school for the day, when I came down from my morphine high…

What was I doing here? Not in Sacramento, per se, but on Earth. What was my purpose? Had I been put on this earth just to suffer? Was I just going to be chased my whole damn life? The first sixteen years, me and Mom had been chased by paparazzi and rabid fans, some more so than others. Everything after that, it went from paparazzi to Boomers, Quincy, Madigan, Boh… It seemed like there was no use running from them. Even if they weren't here physically, they were still right there in my head, taunting me, laughing at me, daring me to even start to think I could live a normal life.

"You're Priss Asagiri's daughter," I could hear them saying. "What the hell makes you think that you can have a normal life with that blood coursing through your veins?"

What DID make me think that? Hell…if it hadn't been for some mystery guy raping my mom, I wouldn't have even been given a chance to live at all. I didn't feel indebted to him, though. I felt like wringing the guy's neck for putting her through that sort of thing, for giving her nightmares that I was sure she still had even eighteen and a half years after the fact. She could have aborted me, yes. But why did she keep me? Why keep me as a constant reminder of…?

She'd said something to the effect of wanting me to live because I didn't choose to be conceived in that manner; I didn't cause the rape itself. Maybe not, but it didn't stop me from feeling bad about it.

So…why WAS I here? To cause Mom more suffering and worrying because of me becoming a Knight Saber? Becoming a target of Genom? Being the daughter of a celebrity and starting to become a celebrity in her own right? WHY?

_I don't get it,_ I thought. _If this is what I was born for…then why be born at all?_

I almost slapped myself at the thought, but stopped myself. Life…there must've been a reason for it existing! Irodia would probably say it's something that is beyond human comprehension. The meaning of life was something that people had been searching for since the beginning of time, and it was her theory that people only figure it out in their dying moments. So did that mean that Michiko had figured it out as she bled from her chest? Or was her death too sudden for that? Had the people at the Boomer summit figured it out? Had Mom's parents? Had Linna's?

"Moses and his people wandered the desert for forty years before finding their paradise," Irodia had reminded me. What kind of paradise? Being persecuted almost relentlessly for over two thousand years? Whose idea of paradise was that? Was she alluding that I would have to go to hell and back countless times before finally living a peaceful life? I hoped not; at the rate I was going, I'd probably die first…unless she'd been referring to heaven as paradise.

Like hell! I wanted a peaceful life in THIS life, not the afterlife!

I started thinking about all that I went through when I was in active duty as a Knight Saber…killing Boomers, saving people, almost getting killed myself…all the scars I got, physically and emotionally. And then, I started thinking about what I'd been pushing myself to do after I came to Sacramento, to train as hard as I could for the Olympics. Now THERE was something to look forward to. Maybe that was what I had been born to do, win medals! Exciting thought there! People cheering me on, seeing me as a national hero…

…And then I almost slapped myself again. BORN for this? How did I let myself start thinking like that? Ludicrous! There was no fate, no destiny! Whatever had happened so far in my lifetime was because of the actions I'd taken, the actions people around me had taken, the actions people in past decades and centuries had taken. None of this bullshit was planned out! Whatever happened COULD be controlled! We COULD control the outcome of situations, maybe not those of what happened before our lifetimes, but…but those of situations happening now as well as those yet to come!

Yet…at the same time, I felt my chest grow heavy at the thought of the situations whose outcome I could have changed in the past. The Boomer summit…was there something I could have done to better the outcome? What about with Michiko? What about with Mom and the other Sabers looking out for me? None of this had to happen…if any of us had acted differently…

I closed my eyes and sighed, laying my head back on the pillow. _Fuck it all,_ I thought. _I'll never know now. There's nothing I can do now, nothing but wonder…_

_-----_

The beginning of April. Spring was in the air, literally; it was perfumed with the smell of budding flowers. Very nice, compared with the looks of the neighborhood in winter. During the winter, it had practically looked like a graveyard wherever I looked, what with all the bald trees and dead lawns and everything, but now that it was spring again, leaves were growing back, lawns were regaining their lushness…

…and all the kids at my school were back to life again as well. Not that they were ever dead, but now that it was warming up outside, they were almost rabid. I knew spring was something to be excited about, but it seemed like they were taking it a little far.

"No they're not," Xania laughed when I told her about my observations. "They're just excited about spring break comin' up."

"Spring break?"

She looked at me like I was insane. "W'll, YEAH! One whole week of freedom! Just lets us all know how close it is to the end of the school year!"

"When is it?"

"Have you been living under a rock all year? Once we get outta school on the 8th, we won't hafta come back till the 18th!"

"Just in time for your birthday," I pointed out, smiling.

"Yep. Couldn't be a better birthday present," she agreed, stretching her arms over her head, her tail curling. "I'll be nineteen on the 9th. Say, when's your birthday, Rosho? Don't think I ever asked."

"It's…June 8th. I'll be eighteen then."

"That's about when we're supposed to graduate, I think."

I snorted. "If I'd stayed in Tokyo, I would've already been done with school by now."

"How's that?"

"In Japan, school is a year-round thing. The school year begins in April and ends in March."

"That's sick!" she blurted, looking disgusted. "What about summer vacation, winter vacation, that kinda stuff?"

"Every ten weeks we get a two-week break. So it balances out."

She stuck her tongue out. "Yeah right. Without summer break I think I'd die!"

"Well, once we get out of school, there won't be any more summer breaks. We'll have to enter the real world and get jobs."

"Screw that. I'll travel the world, live by my wits. That's the life for me," she asserted, grinning to herself like a Cheshire cat.

"Live by your wits, huh?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I did it for a lot of my childhood before I got snatched up by Social Services. Nothin' new to me." She started to look nervous, then spun around and said, "Hey, I gotta go to my next class, but uh…couldja fill me in on the whole life-in-Japan thing after school? Really sounds cool. And think you could teach me some words?"

"Words? You mean Japanese words?"

"Yeah. Curse words, cool phrases, stuff like that."

"Always with the curse words," I groaned as Xania flashed me the peace sign and sped off down the hallway to her next class. I shook my head and smirked to myself as I dug through my locker to get some books. Didn't surprise me she asked about learning curse words; whenever I watched subtitled foreign films, the curse words had always been the first ones to stick in my mind, even as a kid.

I snickered and thought,_ I just hope she doesn't start yelling that stuff at other kids! They'll think she's flipped!_ _Oh wait, she's always been on the eccentric side anyway. Wouldn't be that out-of-character for her at all, I guess._

_-----_

"Let's hold off on the curse words," I suggested at our first lesson. I couldn't believe I was trying to teach my friend Japanese; it had never been something I'd pictured myself doing. As long as she only wanted to know phrases and the like, I was sure I'd be ok, but if she wanted to start learning kana and kanji and stuff like that…well, I was just as sure I'd be screwed.

Xania looked disappointed. "Why? I wanna know how to tell people to fuck off in Japanese!"

"Babies' first words aren't curse words, that's why," I said dryly. "Do you know how to count in Japanese?"

"No."

"Ok, those'll be one of the first things I'll teach you to do. But first I need to teach you the alphabet."

"Alphabet? I know the freakin' alphabet!"

"Not the Japanese one," I reiterated. "There's forty-six letters: five vowels, one consonant that stands by itself, and then forty letters that I guess you could consider consonant-vowel pairs. The vowels, like in English, are a-e-i-o-u, but in Japanese the order is a-i-u-e-o. 'A' as in 'father,' 'i' as in 'eat,' 'u' as in 'food,' 'e' as in 'feather,' and 'o' as in, uh, 'oh.' Now repeat after me: a-i-u-e-o."

"A-i-u-e-o…"

"Ka ki ku ke ko..." That was followed by, "Sa shi su se so," after which she asked, "Why's it 'shi' and not 'si'?"

"'Cause there is no 'si' sound in Japanese. 'Shi' is the closest you can get. Now, say ta chi tsu te to."

"What, no 'ti' or 'tu' either?" she remarked. "How do I say that t-s letter?"

"Try saying Shih Tzu without the 'shi' part."

"Oh, ok. What then?"

"Na ni nu ne no. Then ha hi fu he ho, and no, there's no 'hu' sound. Actually, the 'fu' sound is kinda between the f-sound and the h-sound, come to think of it…" I blinked in surprise when I saw that Xania had whipped out a notebook and was writing everything down. "Wow, you ARE paying attention."

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, most of the time you act like you have ADD."

"Exactly: MOST of the time, not ALL the time," she teased. "So what's after that?"

"Ma mi mu me mo. Then ya yu yo."

"No ye or yi?"

"Nope. Those sounds used to exist in classical Japanese, but they're obsolete now."

"Ah. Kinda like how the k in 'knight' used to be sounded out but it's not anymore?"

"Right. Ok, now for the hard part, the r-words. R's in Japanese aren't exactly like r's in English. I guess you could say that they fall between an r, an l, and a d. It's sort of…how do I put it…tapped, I guess. You gotta, um…" I had to think for a moment; since Japanese was my first language, I'd never really thought about the tongue movements necessary to make the sound, but since it wasn't a sound used in English, I found myself at a loss for words. "Uh…you gotta…" I made the sound, trying to pay attention to how I moved my tongue. "Ok. You gotta click the back of the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth."

Xania gave me a blank look. I'd lost her.

I sighed. "All right, um…pretend like you're speaking Spanish and you don't know how to roll your r's, like when you try to say 'perro' and it doesn't come out quite right."

"OH!" Her face lit up. "I get it now. Yeah, Sara always laughs about how some kids in her Spanish class mess up the rolled r's."

"Good. I got through! Ok, now repeat. Ra…ri…ru…re…ro."

Xania repeated them slowly, messing up at first, but after repeating them a few times she got the hang of it. "Ok…those are hard. I'll work on those."

"Good. Lastly there's wa and wo. When writing Japanese in Roman letters some people write it as 'wo,' and others as 'o'. It's different from the regular vowel 'o' in that it's only used as a particle, like the English 'at' or 'in', so it's also written in a different character. Oh yeah, and there's 'n' too. It just stands by itself."

"No wi, we, or wu? Those are extinct too?"

"Yup."

"This is a lot to remember," she grumbled, jotting more notes down.

"I bet your mom would wish you'd be this enthusiastic about your real homework," I pointed out, not bothering to conceal the smug smirk crossing my lips.

"Pfft, I bet." She finished writing. "Ok, now teach me some words, dammit!"

I chuckled. "You know, I don't think Irodia would be thrilled if she knew I was teaching you."

"Why not?"

"She doesn't know that you know the truth about me. Even Mikhaila and Tyler don't know. I think I've already said Irodia's the only one here besides you that's aware. So try to keep this to yourself, ok?"

"I can try."

"DON'T try. You need to promise me."

"Ok, ok. I promise."

"Good. Now, the one word that I'm sure will stick in your head…is _baka_. It's a word meaning 'jerk,' 'moron,' 'idiot,' all those things. _Aho_ means the same thing, but it's a harsher word, at least in Tokyo. If you're in Osaka, _baka_ is the harsher one."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"I don't know. I don't know anybody from Osaka, so I've never asked…"

I grimaced when I thought about the meaning of Osaka. It had never been a town of interest to me, not until I'd learned that it would be where the Olympic trials would be held. Those were in a month and a half. I'd heard nothing from Mom or Sylia or anybody regarding whether I'd be able to go home in time for them, or if I'd have to miss them, and thus the Olympics too, for the sake of my safety. Hell, they hadn't told me much of anything relating to the Knight Sabers or Genom. There had been one thing that stood out among the recent vidletters I'd gotten, though.

In the letter I had gotten from Mom several weeks ago, just after the anniversary of the Boomer summit attack, she pretended to act ok, but if I looked closer, I could see that she was fidgeting in her seat a lot, and occasionally wincing slightly. Maybe it didn't mean anything; maybe I was just being paranoid…but she'd been acting like she was hurt. That would be understandable; being injured in a Boomer battle wasn't unusual. But my senses were telling me that something just wasn't right.

"Rosho? Hello?"

"Huh?" I started, snapping back to reality. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking…"

"About what?"

"Home…and the Olympics…" I sighed.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you've been wantin' to go. I WAS wonderin' if you'd be tryin' out for the U.S. team or the Japan team…"

"I wanna try out for the Japan team, naturally. But…I don't know if I'll be home in time."

"I'd say screw it. Go over there and try out anyway."

"Xania…don't you think I'd LOVE to?" I moaned, sprawling out on the floor. "I just…I don't know."

"What's holdin' ya back, girl? Your leg still buggin' you?"

"Not really, when I keep my sleeve on, anyway. I'm just…worried. If I DO say 'screw it' and try to go back…well…wouldn't it make sense to assume that Genom would be assuming I'd be there? They'd probably kill me on the spot."

"They're the biggest corporation on the planet, right?" she inquired. "They've got eyes and ears all over the damn place, right? Well, think about it! If they wanted to find you, I'm sure they woulda found you by now."

"The Sabers made sure to take all sorts of precautions to see that that wouldn't happen. That's not to say the plan's foolproof, but…"

"Exactly. If they haven't found ya by now, I'd say you're safe."

"Doesn't mean it's safe to go home though. I wonder if I'll ever get to go back… See, that's why I tried not to get attached to anybody here, 'cause I was so damn sure that I wouldn't be here very long! But now I've been here for over half a year, and…I'm starting to wonder now…"

"Well, stop wonderin'. Do something constructive instead."

I lifted my head up. "Like what?"

"Like teach me to count Japanese-style!"

I managed a laugh and sat up. "All right, all right. It's something to do, anyway…"

-----

Sylia had promised me I'd be able to exact revenge on Madigan. It didn't matter that I was still recovering from my seppuku attack; I'd managed to fight Largo with a gaping stab wound, after all, but I was younger then, and that wound wasn't as bad as the one I had now, not to mention the fact I'd been running on pure anger and adrenaline… Oh, what I would have given to be nineteen again, to have that ability to bounce back. That was the problem with getting older; you're going in the opposite direction you want to be going.

Again, Sylia had assured me that I would not be left out of our latest mission.

…So what the hell was I doing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower?

"Miss Asagiri," a reporter said through an interpreter, "the world has been eagerly awaiting what you were going to do after the disaster last year in your hometown. So what brings you to Paris?"

"Good question," I mumbled, scratching my scalp, wincing from the blinding flashbulbs going off in my face every other second. "I'm…promoting a cover album that I've just started work on. It's gonna include songs by Joplin, Midler, Evanescence, and some others that I haven't thought about yet."

A dozen reporters started talking at once, and I raised my hand to try to shut them up. "NO, I do NOT know when the hell it's gonna be out! It'll be out when I say it's gonna be out. Right now I'm just goin' around and spreading the word. You could call it my way of making up for not going out on tour last year, but I think everyone understands why I couldn't."

"So what's stopping you from going on tour now?" another reporter asked.

I grunted. "You think I can just go on a tour at a whim? That takes a hell of a lot of planning, planning that I don't have time to do. And besides, my daughter is going to be going to Nairobi this summer," I swore. "I'm gonna be busy giving her all my support then. A tour is just not on my to-do list at the moment."

The yelling from the various paparazzi got so loud I could barely hear myself trying to yell over them. I cut the impromptu press conference short and retreated into the hotel I was staying in, my ears ringing as they encountered the sudden silence of the lobby. After massaging my temples briefly, I sighed and headed to the elevator, which took me to the floor my room was on.

_Sylia!_ I snapped in my head. _This was NOT my idea of taking part in this damn mission of yours!_

We had all departed from Tokyo two weeks ago. Thing was, Sylia, Linna, and Nene were heading for one destination, and I was heading for another. Sylia's theory had been that because of my celebrity status, I'd attract attention wherever I went, and so would attract unwanted attention to the Knight Sabers as well from a certain conglomerate. She figured if I went somewhere else, the Sabers could concentrate on their work of tracking down summit survivors.

"And how are Boomers gonna be handled if we're not here to kill 'em?" I had inquired. "That'd be a dead giveaway to Genom that we're not around."

"Mackie and I have been working on fully automated hardsuit prototypes that are designed to look like our own hardsuits. Each one will have your skills programmed into it and will respond to the Boomer threat appropriately. The green one would have Linna's skills, the blue one, yours, and so forth."

It had sounded too much like she was going to send out Boomers to fight other Boomers. There was more reasoning behind that, though: she said that if there was clearly a blue Saber fighting at home while I was out of the country, Genom might start to question whether I was really a Knight Saber after all. I was skeptical; hadn't Madigan and I come face to face after my stabbing? Hadn't my exposed face been captured on tape during my battle with Largo? What the hell was going through Sylia's head? Unless I had a twin out there who also had a daughter aspiring to go to the Olympics, I just knew Genom would see right through this façade.

…Unless they were going to spend too much time investigating just that to be able to pay attention to other crap…

"Damn it," I cursed, punching the wall. Now I was making myself even more damn confused than I already was. And to make matters worse, Sylia had nixed any notion of sending me e-mails or trying to call me unless there was an emergency; she figured that even if Genom was investigating the matter of the fake blue Saber, they'd still be looking at me, and might be tracing my use of computers and phones and whatnot. But hadn't they been doing that when I was back home, anyway? Oh hell…

_How long do you plan on having us travel around?_ I wanted to ask her. _We don't have time to bullshit around…_

_-----_

I dropped to my knees, sweating up a storm as I finished up my floor exercise routine for the fifth time in a row. After motioning for Xania to cut the music, I stood up and mopped off my face with a towel, my legs stiff and sore and wanting to give out from under me. It felt good, though; it meant that I was pushing myself. But somehow, it just didn't feel right. I looked down at my left leg, which had the familiar blue sleeve adorning it. I wondered what the Olympic officials would say about it. Would they say it was a distraction and tell me to wear a flesh-colored one instead? Would they let me wear it at all? Ah hell, they had to; I'd seen gymnasts be allowed to bandage their feet and ankles in athletic tape. How would my sleeve be any different? It wasn't as if my scars would be any less distracting.

"You were just a blur there, girl!" Xania cheered when I walked over to her and took the CD out of the stereo.

"Thanks," I said halfheartedly.

"What's wrong? You looked kick-ass to me!"

"I just have a lot on my mind."

"Yah, I hear you," she said as I put the CD in my duffel bag. "As your wanna-be coach, I'm here to make sure ya eat right and make sure you don't blow a fuse or nothin' like that! Can't afford that now!"

"Ok, Coach Peters," I joked. "What should I do now?"

"You did the floor, you did the beam, you did the parallel beams…uh…" She put a finger to her chin and thought for a moment. "Did you do the thing with the springboard and the pommel horse-thing and the jumping?"

"Yes."

"Hit the showers then. Maybe I'll join you," she teased with a goofy grin.

"You can, but I'm not sharing my stall," I said, sticking my tongue out at her.

"Aw damn. You're no fun."

"Maybe I'm not." I hoisted my duffel bag over my shoulder and headed for the locker room. "But you yourself said you weren't into girls."

"Hey, if there's communal bath spas and shit like that in Japan—"

"Yeah, they're communal baths, not communal showers."

"Same dif," she groaned.

Xania did end up taking a shower, although she was still lamenting the fact she couldn't share a stall with me, which amused me greatly. I even joked that maybe she could show me the tricks she could do with her tail when she was alone, and she joked right back that she just might. We both had a good laugh then.

After we got out of the shower, we both got dressed and dried our hair, with Xania putting a headband on, with her bangs and such pulled back under the headband but leaving the rest of her hair still sticking in every direction. I swore she could do anything to her hair and still make it look good.

"You should try growing it out past the nape of your neck," I suggested as I tied my shoes.

"No," she said quickly, leaning against the lockers as she popped a piece of gum into her mouth and made loud, annoying smacking noises with it. "I don't like havin' long hair. It gets in the way."

"That's what ponytails and buns are for."

"Why have long hair if you're just gonna put it up? I'd just rather keep it short than do that. I've had it this short since I was nine."

"Time for a change then."

"Nope! I like this style, I ain't changin' it," she retorted.

"Maybe you could grow it down to your shoulders like my hair." I tied it back into a ponytail as I said this. "At this length you can do anything to it that you want."

"Like pull on it?" she asked bitterly. "I do NOT like the feelin' of somebody tuggin' on my hair. My parents' friends used to do that…" Her eyes almost popped out of her head as she realized what she was on the verge of saying, and slapped a hand over her mouth.

It caught my attention too. I'd never heard her say a word about her parents other than her saying she didn't want to talk about them. "Xania?"

She sat down on the damp, sweaty, locker room floor and fidgeted. "What?" she asked, pretending to doodle on the floor with the tip of her finger.

"What'd they do?"

"They'd…be cookin' up stuff in the kitchen, or the bathroom, or wherever they could set up their little lab at, and when I'd go to check it out, to see what they were cookin', they'd tell me to stay back, that my hair would dangle in the beakers if I got too close. And sometimes when I did…they or their friends would yank me back by my hair. I was…" She swallowed hard. "I was a stupid kid. I never learned. They'd yank me back so many times whenever I got into ANYTHING that they'd practically rip my hair out by the roots. So one day I took a pair of my dad's scissors and I cut all my hair off. They were pretty pissed, but…at least they couldn't grab me by the hair anymore."

I just sat there and gaped. After her having been so silent about it for so long and so reluctant to bring it up, Xania had just gone on a torrent about a piece of her past. A small piece, but still a piece nonetheless.

"Wow…Xania…" I gasped. "That's why you keep your hair like that?"

"Sorta," she said nervously. "'Sides, I look cool with my hair like this. This is what it looks like when it starts to grow out longer than two inches. Just goes anywhere it wants to."

"So what…were your parents and their friends cooking?"

"What does it sound like?" she spat, shooting to her feet. "M…meth, and X, anything to make themselves higher than a fuckin' kite. And they'd make me stay home and watch the 'kitchen' while they went out to buy more ingredients, make sure nobody came to the door and saw what was goin' on, make sure nobody came in and stole the finished goods…"

"Did they…make you try any of it?" I asked, the words slow to come off my tongue. I didn't want to send her into a frenzy. But she stayed relatively calm.

"Sometimes," she admitted. "They used me as quality control, so to speak. They'd give me a tiny amount, since they knew kids can't handle as much as adults. But that didn't happen too often. I only recall three or four times they used me that way…" She shuddered and hugged herself, her tail poofing out to twice its normal size. "That taste…I'll never forget it…"

"You can stop if you want," I offered gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. She jumped at the touch.

"R-Rosho," she said in a small voice.

"Really. I'm not asking for your whole life story. I think you've said enough."

"They…they were my fuckin' parents," she whispered, hanging her head. "What kinda parents do that to their kids? They're supposed to have 'em try out some cookie dough or somethin', not meth."

"…I don't know." I was numb from what Xania had just told me. I'd had an inkling her parents had dabbled in drugs, but I had no clue that they made her try them out to see if they were any good, no idea that they practically ripped her hair out. And the sad part was, I knew she had only given me the bare bones of what her life was like before she was placed with her foster mom at the age of ten. But I already knew this much:

Inside, she was still even more of a child than I was. All she'd wanted was somebody to care for her, to treat her normally. Maybe that was why she'd been bed-hopping since age fourteen. I didn't bring it up, though. I knew she'd bring it up some other time, on her own terms. I wouldn't force it, knowing I wouldn't want somebody trying to do that to me should they want to know about MY past…

-----

After that day at the gym, Xania acted like she had never brought up the subject of her parents making drugs and pulling on her hair. She seemed to act totally normal, or at least what could be considered normal for her. She was still just as eager to continue the Japanese lessons as ever, even when I was increasingly making myself unavailable in the afternoons. I was now at the gym every day, even on the weekends, trying out new moves to keep my body guessing so it wouldn't fall into a rut. That didn't seem to put a damper on her though; she just pushed for me to give her quick lessons on the way to school instead. Still…I don't know how useful the lessons would be if I had to shout them out over the noise of the bike engine.

"Ok! How old are you?" I yelled over said engine several days later. "And I don't mean on your birthday! How old are you right now?"

"Uh…" A pause. "_Juu…_uh, _juu…juu-nana-sai._"

"That's MY age! You just said seventeen!"

"Oh! Um…eighteen, that's…_juu-hachi-sai_."

"With eighteen years of age you need to blend in the _sai_ with the number," I reminded her. "So what would it be?"

"_Juu…juu-hassai_?"

"Right. The year?"

"Shit," she cursed. I laughed. "2056 in Japanese, crap. Uh…_ni-sen…go…go-juu…roku…nen. Ni-sen-go-juu-roku-nen_."

"That's right. You're getting a hang of the numbers pretty quick."

"I don't wanna count anymore," she whined. "It's baby stuff. Teach me some good stuff."

"Numbers are the most basic thing. Gotta do those first. But you've done pretty good; the Japanese number system is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Now let's practice colors. Red is _akai_. Blue is _aoi_. Green is _midori_. Black is _kuroi_ and white is _shiroi_. Yellow is _kiiroi_."

"Wait! I gotta write this down!"

"I'll show you the kanji for them later. Anyway, pink is _pinku_, orange is _orenji_, purple is _murasaki_…"

"What's brown? You haven't said brown yet."

"_Cha-iro_. Literally 'the color of tea.' And grey is _hai-iro_, 'the color of ash.'"

We arrived in the student parking lot of the school, and as I took off my helmet and shook out my hair, Xania pointed to her shades. "What about these? How do you say glasses?"

"Glasses? You mean eyeglasses or sunglasses?"

"Either/or."

"_Megane_ is eyeglasses. _Sangurasu_ is sunglasses."

"So I'm wearing…uh…_pinku sangurasu_?"

"_Pinku na sangurasu_, yes. It's a _na_-adjective."

"Oh…right."

I smiled. "Like I said, I'm impressed how much you've retained. Japanese is a tough language, just like English is."

"So how'd you learn English? You said it was from goin' on tour with your mom when you were little?"

"Yup," I said. "When you're little, your brain absorbs languages easier. I just naturally picked it up. Mom's English is rough at best, but her friends helped me to retain it. I can speak it just as naturally as I speak Japanese, although Irodia says I have a little bit of an accent."

"Yeah, you do," she agreed, flipping her tail back and forth. "Can't really hear it unless you're listening for it though."

"I've tried to listen for it, but I don't hear it."

"It's just like people from the Midwest, y'know? They don't think they have an accent, and then they go to New York. They think everyone THERE speaks weird, but since THEY'RE the strangers, THEY'RE the ones who're speakin' weird 'cause they don't have a Brooklyn accent or whatever."

I told her we had to zip our lips now that we were in school; I was adamant about our lessons staying private lest I arouse anyone's suspicions. I don't know why I was being so secretive; I knew that California had a large Asian population, although that may not have been true for Sacramento, but since everyone believed I was Hispanic, they couldn't know that I knew Japanese. It would just be…too weird, I guess.

"Tail," she whispered when we got to class and sat down at our desks.

"What?"

"Tail. How d'ya say tail in Japanese?"

"_Shippo_."

"So I have a _cha-iroi shippo_?"

"Yeah. And an _ookii kuchi_," I quipped.

"A what?"

"Big mouth."

"Hey!" she laughed, punching me in the shoulder. "Do not!" She whipped something out of her backpack and slapped it down on my desk. "Take a look at that."

"What is it?" I asked, picking it up. It looked like a travel guide. _Guide to the American Southwest,_ it was titled.

"Tomorrow's our last day of school before spring break. Gotta make plans now."

"For what?"

"For traveling, duh! I think we should go to Arizona! It ain't too hot yet 'cause it's still only  
April, and plus I've never seen the Grand Canyon. I wanna see that."

"I shouldn't," I grudgingly said. "I need to train…"

"Screw trainin'! You need to have fun too, girl! This is our senior year! We're never gonna have another spring break ever! We gotta take advantage of this!"

I sighed and flipped through the Arizona section of the book. Yeah, a road trip did sound like fun, but if I took a whole week off to go do that, that would be a week of training I'd miss out on. And the trials were next month.

"You NEED this," she insisted, jabbing her finger into the pages that showed a blown-up map of the highways of Arizona. "It'll help you relax for those trials you keep talkin' about. And that's what you need to do, or you'll be burned out by the time the trials come 'round!"

"Xania, look, I appreciate the thought, but this is YOUR idea, and…"

"I am NOT goin' on a road trip by myself! That'd be no fun!" she protested. "This is a chance to say 'fuck you' to society and to expectations. It's a chance to let it all hang out like D-cup women at Mardi Gras! For a week, we can be vagabonds! We don't gotta pack nothin'; who'd give a shit if we stay in the same clothes for a whole week besides us, huh? Who's gonna care if we burn ourselves to a crisp in the sun besides us, huh? We can just chill out, sample the food and the lifestyle, and when we come back we're gonna be the happiest, most laid-back two bitches Sacramento will have ever seen. This city won't be ready to have us back once Arizona is done with us!"

"It's a nice lecture and all," the teacher suddenly said, interrupting her, "but class is about to start, and unfortunately we are not learning about Arizona and spring break today."

Xania groaned. "But it's so much funner than listenin' to you."

"I know, but just deal with it for the next hour."

"Fine." She turned to me and grinned. "You keep that guidebook, and take a look through it when ya can. I wanna know what you think by tomorrow, ok? It's gonna be a hell of a good time!"

"We'll see," I said, slipping it into my backpack as the teacher let out an ear-piercing whistle to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, kiddies, let's get our brains into gear! Remember, spring break isn't until after school tomorrow, so until then we're going to dissect and examine every single inch of the Middle Eastern Revolution. Now, to start off, the Revolution began around 2009 with the fall of…"

-----

Try as I might to pay attention in class for the rest of the day, that guidebook Xania lent me seemed to beckon to me, pleading with me to at least give it a chance and look through it. So during the other classes I had after history, I did. I read about all the landmarks in Arizona, the Indian reservations, what the temperature and weather were like at this time of year, everything. After staring at the pictures in the book all day, I felt like I could close my eyes and practically feel myself caught up in a sandstorm, rust-colored sand swirling all around me, making me choke on it and make my eyes water. It was starting to seem like fun, after all… I'd never gone traveling through a desert before, and maybe Xania was right about one thing: it WOULD be one last chance to really relax before I went out full-force with my training.

And yet, at the same time, the rational part of my brain screamed at me for even giving it a second thought; could I REALLY afford to skimp on a whole week?

_Well…sure! I guess I could at least give it a shot,_ I thought as I put my books away in my locker at the end of the day. Slamming it shut, I reached into my backpack and flipped through the guide for about the fifteenth time as I walked out to the parking lot. _Xania said she's never seen the Grand Canyon. Actually, neither have I. Might be kinda cool to see that oversized trench in person!_

"Whaddaya think?" she squealed the moment she saw me approach her, tail wagging in every direction. "Doesn't it look awesome?"

"It does," I admitted, handing her the guide.

"So!" she urged, shoving her face in mine, her eyes wide with anticipation. "Are we gonna go or aren't we?"

"…Tomorrow's Friday. That still gives us some time to pack before we need to hit the road," I said with a grin. Xania let out a loud hoot and jumped up and down, pumping a fist in the air.

"WHOO! All right! We're goin' on a roooooad trip!" Other kids started to stare and whisper amongst themselves, so I had to get her to calm down and be a little more discreet. Once she was sufficiently calm, I added, "And you were right about earlier. If we're gonna be taking my bike, we can't pack a whole lot, so we should only pack the essentials. So…" I began counting off on my fingers. "Sunscreen, cash, debit cards, maybe some warmer clothes in case it gets cold at night…uh…"

"The guide!" she chirped.

"Yeah, the guide. And…deodorant," I laughed. "It may be spring break, but I still don't wanna stink!"

"Motels usually have little bottles of shampoo in their bathrooms, so no worries there," Xania offered.

"Oh, that reminds me, toothbrushes and toothpaste—"

"C'mon!" she protested. "We can survive a week without tendin' to our teeth!"

"Well, you don't have to bring yours, but I AM bringing mine. What else?"

"Condoms in case we meet some cute guys?" she suggested, an evil grin crossing her face. I felt the urge to slap myself on the forehead, but restrained myself.

"I should've expected that," I groaned.

"Oh right, you're Miss Chastity, I forgot," she teased, brushing me off. "In that case, I'll be more than happy to handle the seduction part."

"I thought you were on a hiatus."

"Yeah, but I never said how long that was gonna last. Anyhoo, if I don't meet a guy during this trip, then that's fine." She snorted and added jokingly, "I think your morals are startin' to rub off on me, girl. I'm actually not as attracted to certain types of guys now that I would've jumped into bed with in a heartbeat a year ago. Damn, I guess my standards are goin' up!"

"That's not a bad thing."

"…I guess not. Still, it does get a little lonely not havin' anyone to share a bed with."

"Well, that settles it."

"Huh?" She looked at me. "Settles what?"

"We're sleeping in separate beds. Don't want to chance you relieving your loneliness on me during this trip of ours!"

Xania looked dumbfounded for a moment, then burst out in a fit of laughter. "Hahahahaaaa! That's cute! Priceless! No no, you don't gotta worry about that. I like you, but not in THAT kind of way!"

"Good, 'cause I don't like you in that kind of way either!"

-----

Like what any half-decent mom would do, Irodia sort of went off on me when she found out about the road trip me and Xania were planning on taking. She was upset that I hadn't run it by her, but I was quick to point out that Xania had only sprung the idea on me earlier that day.

"That doesn't exactly give you a lot of time to plan, does it?" she asked, crossing her arms as I shoved a pair of jeans into my backpack.

"No," I agreed, "but I think that was the whole point. School's already all planned out for us; why have a vacation be that way too? It's a time to be spontaneous."

"Well, that doesn't mean you can't budget your time. How long is it going to take to get there, and how long to get back?" I shrugged.

"I don't know." I picked out several changes of underwear from my drawer and shoved them in next to the jeans. "Maybe a day each way, probably shorter if we go non-stop."

"I doubt it'll be non-stop. There's a lot of sights between here and the Grand Canyon." She sighed. "Yumeko, what if something happens and you'll need to get ahold of me?"

"I can use a payphone," I said, shrugging again. "And if anyone tries anything on me, I know how to defend myself."

Irodia reached into her pocket and pulled out several bills. "Here's twenty dollars," she said, holding them out to me. "I want you to buy yourself some pepper spray and an air horn."

I smirked, which didn't seem to amuse her. "I'll be fine." _My gun'll scare any bastards off faster than a measly can of pepper spray will,_ I added mentally. Irodia didn't know that I owned a gun, and needless to say, I didn't think she would be too pleased if she found out, never mind that I had had to use one at least once before. She still saw me as a kid who needed to be looked over.

"I'm just worried, that's all. Two teens out on their own…you're very liable to be taken advantage of by some shaggy men who you think might mean well if you need to ask for help."

"What do you take me for?" I snapped. "This is me you're talking about! I'm not that naïve, and I seriously doubt Xania is, either. We'll be fine if we just stick together."

Irodia just shook her head, told me to be careful again, then left the room, leaving me to finish packing. I grumbled as I shoved the rest of whatever clothes I thought I'd need in my backpack, then zipped it shut and threw it next to the bedroom door. I sat down on my bed and rested my chin in my hands, going over what she had said. No…I'd be fine. WE'D be fine. She was just a worrywart. I almost laughed to myself when I remembered what Xania's theory on worrywarts was; it made me wonder when I might start seeing warts sprouting on Irodia's nose and chin. _She's just being a mom,_ I thought. _I guess I can't blame her. But still, it's ME she's talking to. She doesn't think I can take care of myself?_

I grumbled to myself; I needed to get my mind off of things. I needed to get in the mindset for the trip tomorrow, and Irodia was getting in the way of that. _I need a hit,_ I thought as I grabbed my bottle of hydromorphone out of the drawer in my nightstand and started to unscrew the top. That would help me relax.

I'd almost unscrewed the top when Mikhaila came bursting into my room. I jumped in surprise and shoved the bottle under my butt before she could see it. So much for relaxing.

"Rocío!" she exclaimed. "I wanna ask a favor."

"A…a favor?" I stammered, managing to sound suspicious. "What kind of favor? You don't usually ask for something unless—"

"Hey, no catch here," she replied firmly. "It's just a simple request. You're goin' to the Grand Canyon, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Couldja bring me back lots of pictures? I've wanted to go there for a long time, but I know Mom's not gonna let me go since it's just a trip of yours and Xania since I'd impede, probably, and it's not the kind of place she'd want to go to. Whenever we've gone on a vacation it's always to some Russian thing or Little Tokyo in San Fran or somethin'; she keeps saying I 'need to know about my heritage' or some crap like that. Do I really care?"

"So you just want pictures?" I summed up.

"Yeah. Lots of 'em."

"I think we can manage that. I'll ask Xania to bring her camera."

"Cool. Thanks."

After she left, I let out a huge sigh in relief. Mikhaila had definitely changed ever since the incident with her stealing my picture of Michiko; she wasn't the hard-on bitch that she was when I'd first arrived. I guess when we had called a truce, she wasn't just giving lip service. One less thing for me to worry about.

But now I had a new thing to worry over. Something underneath me felt funny…felt wet. I grimaced, then jumped off the bed when I realized what it was. My bottle of hydromorphone had been partially open when I hid it under me, and now it was leaking all over my bedspread.

"Damn it!" I swore aloud, patting the wet spot on my behind; I couldn't believe I'd been that careless! Now I'd have to make a trip downtown tomorrow to buy another bottle from Bert. The money Irodia had offered me was sitting at the end of the bed, and I snatched it up and shoved it in my pocket. I didn't need any pepper spray; this money would have to go towards replenishing my supply.

After I mopped off the mess from my bedspread, I tore it off the bed and shoved it in a corner, then put the now-empty bottle back in the drawer; I would have to dispose of it later so as not to arouse any suspicion. A minute later I ended up changing my jeans too, as I remembered the stain on the butt of them. I pulled out the money from the pocket and put it in the clean pair I was now wearing, still mentally slapping myself for making such a mistake. _Should've closed the door or locked it or something before taking that out,_ I grumbled inside. _That was too close._

_-----_

It was sort of funny what happened when I got up the next morning. It was one of those instances where you GET up before you actually WAKE up. One moment I was curled up in bed, waiting for the alarm clock to start buzzing, and the next, I had my empty bottle of morphine in my hand. Maybe I was in more need of it than I thought. But I didn't care; I unscrewed the cap and tried to suction out as much of what was left as possible, but I could only get a few drops out.

"Damn it," I moaned. "I still can't believe I was so careless."

I didn't think I'd be able to wait until after school to run by Bert's shooting gallery; I wanted some right this minute, but it would take at least half an hour to get downtown on my bike. Oh well…I was willing to make the trip. I got dressed, put the empty bottle in my jacket pocket, then picked up the phone and dialed Xania's number.

"Hello?" her foster mom answered.

"It's Rocío. Is Xania awake yet?" I asked.

"Actually, yes. She's been tearing her room apart since the crack of dawn trying to decide what to pack," she said wryly with a chuckle.

"I shouldn't say I'm surprised, but I am," I replied, sharing the chuckle. "Uh, could you tell her she's gonna have to find another way to get to school today? I need to run an errand."

"I can give her a ride. That's not a problem…although her getting overexcited about this trip might be. What time are you going to be over here to pick her up when you two leave on the trip?"

"Um…I dunno. I guess Xania would want to leave as soon as school's over. I'll pick her up at school, then I guess we'll be coming by to pick up her stuff."

"All right, I'll run it by her."

"Thanks."

With that out of the way, I grabbed a quick breakfast before I raced out the door and jumped on my bike, almost forgetting to put on my helmet before I peeled out of the driveway. It was an unusually drizzly April morning, and my fingerless gloves were the only thing to keep my hands warm, although I couldn't say the same about my fingers. At every traffic light, I rubbed my hands together for as long as I could before the light turned green. I wish I'd had time to do the same to my leg; it was stiffening up already, with the usual accompanying dull ache right behind it. _I hope it warms up by afternoon,_ I thought. Xania would definitely not think of this as the perfect start to spring break!

When I got to the intersection where the Black Spider was at, I parked my bike, fed the parking meter – I HATED getting tickets, and I knew for a fact I wasn't the only one – then headed down the alley, where I found not only the familiar green dumpster pushed out of the way of the front door, but Juan and Bert just going inside.

"Yo!" I yelled, waving as I ran up to them.

"Hey! Rocío!" Bert said, his face quickly warming up when he saw me. "A little early for you to be here, ain't it? It's only 7:15."

"I know, I know, but this couldn't wait. I, uh…sorta spilled my morphine," I admitted shyly, taking out the empty bottle and showing him. "Mikhaila almost walked in on me when I was about to take it, so I shoved it under me so she wouldn't see, and I guess I forgot to close the cap."

"Damn, kid, that stuff's not water," he grumbled. "I s'pose you're here to get a refill, so to speak."

"Yeah. I was gonna wait till after school, but…"

"Needed a hit right away, huh?" I nodded. "Well, all right. C'mon in and get warm, it's too damn cold to be standin' 'round out here."

"No shit," Juan agreed, lighting a cigarette as we all headed inside and went down the stairs. The stench that was still stuck in the walls hit me like a truck again, and although one would think I'd have seen it coming, I still wasn't used to it. I had to hold my nose as we walked into the shooting gallery.

Not five minutes later, I already had a new bottle of morphine in my hands. I practically squealed in delight as Bert put it in my hands, after I'd given him the money for it. Unscrewing the cap, I quickly filled up the dropper and emptied it on my tongue, shuddering as the liquid coursed down my throat. Aah…that was more like it.

"Thanks," I breathed, putting the new bottle in my jacket pocket. "I think I can get through the day just fine now." Bert just shook his head and mumbled something to himself. "What?"

He looked up from the gun he was cleaning. "I already warned ya once. Ya gotta make sure not to overdo it on that crap. It's too easy to get in over your head."

"I know that," I said haughtily. "It's not like I've been taking it every day. Only once in a while."

He eyed me again. "Kid, the one you spilled was the third bottle you'd bought. This one makes four."

"So practically one a month. So? Wouldn't have had to buy this one if I hadn't spilled the last one. Oh well."

"Didntcha say you were plannin' on goin' to the 'Lympics?" Juan interjected, blowing rings of smoke from his mouth. "Don't they test ya for drugs?"

"Yeah they do." I sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. "I'll make sure to go on hiatus from it then, don't worry."

"Ain't your leg gonna really hurt then?"

"Maybe," I said, shrugging. "I don't imagine it's very wet in Nairobi, so I don't think I'll have to worry about it raining and making my leg ache like it is now. I've been wanting to go there my whole life…" I smiled. "Stress? Nah. It's my life dream! I'll relish the challenge! It'll be more exciting than anything I've done in my life!"

"That's a nice thing t' shoot for," Bert said, "but you're assumin' you're goin' when you still need to do the trials."

"The trials…yeah…but I'll blow 'em away," I said firmly. "I will. No one will ever know that I was even hurt." _'Cept the leg sleeve'll give THAT away,_ I added in my head.

"What about after all dat's done?" Juan asked.

"Yeah, what he said," Bert echoed. "Any plans for afterward?"

I had to think about it for a moment. "Well…haven't gotten that far yet. I'll figure that out when I get there." I laughed. "Yeah, live for the moment, that's what we gotta do! And hey, you're sounding like you actually care! You're not supposed to care! You're supposed to be a ruthless dealer in illegal firearms and narcotics! What's with the sudden caring streak?" I laughed again.

"Don't wanna see ya fuck up your life like so many of us, kid. Simple as that."

-----

Like before, Bert wouldn't let me leave until I had come down from my high, and by then it was almost ten o'clock, which meant I had already missed my first three classes. I just shrugged and pulled on my helmet; it was only one day of school I'd be missing, and besides, since it was the day before spring break, I was sure not many kids were at school anyway.

However, a certain blond-haired boy heading my way would not have been on my list of kids ditching today.

"Greg?" I said out loud. "What're you doing here?"

"I was about to head in and practice some of my shooting with Juan and Bert." He eyed me. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Shouldn't you?"

"Yeah," he admitted, "but I had stuff to do this morning."

"Like what?"

"An officer came to my house this morning, and I talked with him for a while."

"A police officer?"

He laughed. "Hell no. An Army officer, a recruiter. I went by the recruiting office last week and made an appointment with him to come by my place and tell me more about the Army life."

"I'm…surprised. I never pictured you as a military guy."

"Oh, I've been wanting to do it for years. When I turned eighteen at the beginning of the year I wanted to drop out and enroll right away, but my dad made me promise to at least finish school first before I head off."

"So you're joining after graduation? That's cool."

"And no wars going on right now either, even better," he joked. "Even if they do make Boomers do all the fighting nowadays."

I inwardly cringed at the mention of that word. "Well, I bet it's still dangerous…" I said slowly. "I wouldn't do it. I'd rather be a gymnast."

"You already are, Ro."

"…Ro?" I inquired.

Greg grinned again. "Yeah. Nickname. That ok?"

"I suppose so. Sounds weird though."

"What, no one's ever called you that before?"

"No."

"Huh," he said. "Well, anyway, I was just gonna head back to my place and start packing. I talked with the recruiter, and now I'm gonna be taking a trip to boot camp, y'know, get to know the place before I spend the summer getting basic training there."

"When do you leave?"

"Tonight." He walked to his truck and unlocked the driver's-side door. "You got any plans for break?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Me and Xania are going to Arizona."

"One word: sunscreen," he advised. "You can burn way easily down there. But besides that, it's an awesome place, especially the Canyon. Ever seen it?"

"No, but Xania really wants to. That's why we're going."

"She's an overgrown kid," he said, chuckling to himself. "But that's why she's so fun to be around. Life's too short not to have someone like her in it…"

"Why'd you two break up?" I asked. "Xania just keeps saying that she got bored with you, but it seems like there's more to it. From what I saw, you two were really having fun together."

"Xania…has a problem being attached to people," he said slowly, beckoning me to get into his truck with him, which I did after I took off my helmet. "She always has. I've known her ever since she started living with Meredith…her foster mom. She loves people, she loves hanging out with them, she loves the attention. But she's afraid of getting attached. And she was starting to fall in love with me. I told her I would always take care of her, that I wouldn't ever turn my back on her like so many other people have, but she wouldn't have any of it. The way she's been brought up, she HAS to look after herself first. I guess I didn't do a good job of earning her trust."

"So how is it that me and her have stayed friends?" I asked. "How'd I earn her trust?"

"I have no idea. Maybe she sees someone she can relate to. Someone she actually wants to protect, so they don't get hurt like she's been hurt." He took a breath. "I know today is her birthday, and that she's nineteen now. She's not even supposed to still be living with Meredith; she aged out of the system when she turned eighteen. But I guess Meredith knows she's not mature enough to handle herself, so she's let her stay in her house regardless."

"It sounds like you still care a lot about her."

"I do." I jumped when I felt his hand cover mine. "But I care about you too, Ro. I see a spunky, no-nonsense girl who's been hurt in the past just like Xania; maybe not in the same way, but still hurt nonetheless. And I see someone who needs help in healing."

I felt my voice catch in my throat. Was this a love confession? Sure, I'd had the feeling he had a crush on me, ever since he snuck that kiss on me after I'd visited Sara in the hospital several months earlier, but now my hunch was being confirmed. And I had no idea how to react. What was even stranger was that I knew he was being sincere, not like Masahiro or other creeps who'd tried to sweet-talk me before. It was very odd to see him act this way. I kept expecting my sarcasm radar to blare, but it never even made a peep.

"I…I'm flattered," I stammered, "but…you don't know me. You'll never even begin to know what I've gone through. And you don't know if I still need healing or no—"

My words were smothered in Greg's mouth as he closed his lips and mouth over mine. I gasped in surprise, then relaxed into it as he put his hands on my shoulders to steady both of us. By the time we parted, we were both gasping for air.

"I know that," he said quickly, stroking my cheek. "But I still want to help you."

I removed his hand gently from my cheek and said bluntly, "I'm sorry, but I don't want or need your help. I'm just fine on my own. That's not to say I don't appreciate the concern, though."

"I'll give you all the time you need," he said. "I'll be here when you do want help, though, if you do want it."

"…No you won't," I corrected. "You'll be off in boot camp, and I'll be off at the Olympics, if I decide I DO need or want your help by then."

"Then you can call me. Anytime."

"Please, Greg…don't try to get sweet on me. I'm not…used to this." I hugged myself and pulled away slightly. I had felt safe, but now I just felt weirded out and…violated somehow. I had to tell myself this was not a repeat of what had happened at that party. It wasn't, it wasn't…but this felt strangely similar.

"It's alright," he said softly. "I just want you to feel safe with me. I wouldn't make you do anything you don't want to do."

"I think your hormones are getting the best of you," I said bluntly. "It's obvious from the look on your face. You want to sleep with me."

"Well…" His cheeks turned red, a look I had never seen on a guy before. "You're a pretty girl, and I'm a typical guy, so…yes, I do. But not if you don't want to. I wouldn't want to rush anything, especially considering what you went through with Rob."

I threw open the truck door. "I don't want to hear that name anymore. And I don't want you bringing THAT up again! Just go practice your damn shooting with Bert. Isn't that what you came to do?" I got out of the truck and pulled on my helmet again, my hands shaking as I did so. What the hell was wrong with me? I knew he wasn't like Rob…he was the opposite of Rob. And yet…damn. Was I afraid of him? No…it couldn't be. He was cool to be around, but when he would make physical contact with me, I'd get…nervous. No, that wasn't the right word. Scared? …Was I scared? I wasn't scared of Greg, was I?

"Rocío!" he called after me, following behind me.

"Just stop it!" I yelled. "Go away! I'm not ready for this! This is all going way too fast! If I wanted to kiss you or screw your brains out, I'd let you know!" I heaved a sigh and cringed as I felt his hand clamp down on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't…mean to put you off."

_I don't even know how to kiss,_ I thought, turning my head away. _Every time I've been kissed by a guy, it's been forced on me. Hell, my first kiss was with Boh. What does that say about me?_

"What's wrong?" Greg asked when I put a hand to my stomach, lifting up my visor and wiping something from my eye with my other hand. "Does your stomach hurt?"

"No."

"Are you crying?"

"No," I said again firmly, although my finger was lined with moisture. I took a breath and said slowly, "Greg, I'm not…the kind of girl you would want to be with. I'm too…messed up."

"Xania's messed up too, but…"

"So what? Birds of a feather? Is that your kind of girl, nice and vulnerable? Sorry, I'm not playing that game."

"That's not what I meant!"

_I know,_ I thought guiltily as I started up my bike. "Let's just enjoy spring break," I said, trying to steady my voice. "You go do your thing, and I'll do mine, and when we return to school afterwards, we can talk about this some more. But right now I…I just can't handle it."

He nodded in understanding. "All right. That sounds fine."

"I'll see you later then."

"Okay."

He reached to lift up my visor, and I smirked and pushed his hand away. "No no no," I said. "Trying that again, are we?"

"Yeah," he admitted, returning the smirk.

"We'll talk about it later…"

I didn't even look in my rear view mirror as I pulled away and roared down the street, destination unknown at the moment. I could feel my stomach churning and my chest tightening with confusion. What was going on inside me? Part of me wanted him to ravish me, to help me forget about everything, but another part of me was…scared, not wanting to be touched, for fear it would just turn out badly again. He was a good guy…I KNEW that he wouldn't do anything to destroy what trust I had in him. I wasn't still traumatized from that party incident, was I? _Maybe,_ I thought. _Or maybe I'm being paranoid. Or overprotective of myself. Or frugal. Or overanalyzing this way too much._

And in the middle of all this, I had almost forgotten about Xania. Arizona. The Grand Canyon. It sounded nice. Maybe it would be the perfect escape from all this. Some time to think, time to enjoy life, time to wonder what was still ahead. No…that would've been naïve of me. I couldn't unwind completely, no matter how hard I tried. While looking forward every day to the trials, which were creeping closer, I was also living day by day, trying to just life as normal a life as I could.

But what was normal? I didn't even know anymore.

-----

I see London, I see France…or however that little kids' song went. In any case, I had seen both in the past couple weeks, in addition to Madrid, Stockholm, The Hague, and now New York City, all under the guise of promoting a cover album that I was supposedly recording. And so as to not draw any suspicion among the producers of the recording company or my band members, I was actually doing it. If not for the current situation of things, I might have actually been having a good time, but I wasn't.

What the hell was going on with Nene, Linna, and Sylia? I hadn't heard from them since they had left Tokyo in search of testimony from survivors of the summit. Maybe it was a good thing; Sylia had stressed that we needed to divert Genom's attention away from me and the Sabers, but at the same time, I myself wanted to go around and ask people about the summit too. But what would my excuse for asking them be? As someone who'd survived the explosion herself, I was sure that the other party might just think of it as two survivors relating their stories.

But damned if the other people around me didn't have other plans. As I had said, I wasn't just paying lip service to the public, I was actually following up on my word. So for two days straight, I sat there in a recording studio I had rented out for the time being, attempting to record a cover of _My Immortal_. One problem was, however, that my English had never been that great; I had to go over English words I wasn't familiar with and ask someone how to pronounce them. I knew what the song was about – I'd obtained a translation of the lyrics some time ago – but to stay true to the form of the song, and all the other songs I was recording, I had decided to sing them in English.

I read over the first line of the second half of the song out loud, trying to get a feel for it. "_You used to capti…cap…_shit. How do you say it?"

Hiroshi laughed out loud and looked at the word. "Forget again? Damn, why dontcha just write the kana for it over the word so ya remember? I think it'd be _kyaputiveito_ or somethin'."

"All right, so how's this sound? _You used to captivate me by your res…resonating light, but now I'm bound by the life you left behind. Your face, it haunts my once pre…ple…ples…plezzz…_"

"Pleasant?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"But I think 'resonating' has a 'z' sound in there. Y'know, 'rez' instead of 'res.'"

"What, did you actually pay attention in English class in high school?" I joked. "'Cause I didn't. I was never even there."

"Actually, yeah," he laughed. "But ya know what the producer's gonna say."

"What?"

"To make it not sound like 'present.'"

"Should've seen that coming," I said, shaking my head in mock disbelief. "Ok, continuing…_Your face, it haunts my once…pleasant…dreams. Your voice, it chases away all the sanity in me._"

"Sounds good to me."

"I can pronounce the other words just fine. I just get stuck on those few." I stood up. "Alright. Let's get crackin'!"

Max chose that moment to run into the room, making me and Hiroshi both cringe; for once, he had a serious look on his face, which never meant anything good. "Yo, Priss, the IOC is returnin' that message you left 'em the other day. The guy on the line doesn't sound like he's got any good news though."

I raised an eyebrow and went into the next room to pick up the phone without a word. I'd called the International Olympic Committee several days earlier to inquire about whether or not Yume would have a shot to attend the trials in Osaka. I bit my lip and picked up the receiver. "This is Priss Asagiri."

"Hello, Miss Asagiri. I apologize for the delay in getting back to you on your inquiry," said the man on the line.

"I understand, you're probably busy getting everything ready," I said, hiding my annoyance. "So what's the word?"

There was a slight pause. "Well, to be frank, Yumeko has not competed in over a year."

"Yeah, I know that. She got hurt in the summit explosion."

"Yes, I understand there were extreme extenuating circumstances, but I'm afraid that because of her absence from competition, I see no way that she would be able to participate in the trials."

"What the hell do you mean?" I growled. "She poured her body and soul into recovering so that she could go to Osaka and try out. Just because she got a hole blown in her leg—"

"Miss Asagiri, please understand," he said firmly. "There are two million girls in Japan currently practicing gymnastics. All of them share the dream of getting onto the Olympic team, and fact is, there are only seven spots open. The fact that Yumeko was hurt does not bode well for her chances, no matter how much she may have thrown herself into recovery."

"You're talking about the girl who took gold at Nationals here!" I snapped. "How can you think of not giving her a chance to try out?"

"She took gold in '54…not '55," he pointed out gently.

"So what?"

"No one pays attention to who won the year before, only to those who won last year, and who will win this year."

"You have no idea what she's capable of! You could at least watch her and judge for yourself!"

He cleared his throat. "Let me have a word with the other people in the gymnastics committee. Can you hold for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, whatever," I grumbled as the hold music began to play in my ear.

"What's goin' on?" Max asked.

"Damn IOC doesn't think they can give Yume a shot at the trials 'cause she's been out of competition." It took all of my willpower to not bang the receiver against the wall in frustration. What difference did a year make? My daughter was one of the best in the world! To not have her at least be at the trials would be blasphemy, leg injury or not. I could partly see the guy's point though – she may have been one of the best _two years ago_, but what about _now_? I gritted my teeth and mumbled a few curse words to myself.

"She WAS hurt," Hiroshi pointed out.

"Yeah, but she's better now," I asserted.

"And MIA."

"Because her HEAD needs time to recover," I asserted again. "Losing her friend was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. A hell of a year. But she'll be back soon."

"I'm sorry for having you wait," the man suddenly said, coming back on the line. "I discussed it briefly with the committee, and they concur that there were extenuating circumstances in Yumeko's case."

"So what're you gonna do about it?" I inquired.

"The committee is willing to examine a recent video of your daughter doing her routine. All four, of course."

"Balance beam, floor…"

"…Uneven bars, and the vault," he finished; I could almost see him nodding. "If they like what they see, they may make an exception."

"Can't just accept her on her own recognizance, huh?"

"I'm afraid not. There will be dozens of girls trying out; we have to let everyone have their fair shot and not just accept someone because they happened to have an accident."

"That was no damn accident!" I yelled.

"I…I-I'm sorry," he stammered, sounding flustered. "I didn't mean for that to sound cold. But anyway, the judges need a recent video of her, preferably within the last week or two, and they will need it by the end of the month. If they don't have a video in hand by then, then there's nothing they can do."

"What about a video feed?" I suggested.

"That would work also, I suppose."

"Alright. I'll have her make a video and send it right over."

"All right, thank you for your time, Miss Asagiri."

"Same to you," I said dryly, hanging up. I'd been lying through my teeth when I suggested the video feed; I had no way of knowing that I could actually arrange such a thing, especially if I weren't reunited with Yume by the end of the month.

"Live video feed?" Max laughed. "But your kid ain't nowhere to be found."

"I'll send for her," I responded with a hiss in my voice.

"You're a good liar, Priss, but if and when they see through that, you've just fucked yourself over, AND your kid."

"Yes, I know, thank you for reminding me." I motioned for us all to head to the recording booth. "Now can we just get back to recording this thing?"

"Sure," both Max and Hiroshi said.

"Is there gonna be a tour this time?" Hiroshi quipped. "Hate for ya to get any more mysterious injuries and have to cancel again."

I gave him a smirk as I picked up my guitar. "We'll see about that, won't we?"


	2. We're halfway there

I swore I had never seen Xania so excited as she had been on those first two days of our spring break trip. No matter if we were going a hundred miles an hour and getting dead bugs stuck to our motorcycle visors as a result – I'd bought her her own helmet – she was hooting and hollering like she had never even been outside of Sacramento before. She was pointing at everything, saying, "Look, Rosho! Lookatthat! Ain't that awesome?! Huh, huh?!" She was like a hyperactive five-year-old, but I didn't mind. In my own way, I was too. I'd never been on a road trip by myself before…or at least just with a friend. I had been taking in all the strange sights as well, but for the sake of keeping my bike upright, I couldn't kick my legs in excitement like she was.

After two days of driving down the heart of California on Highway 99, we had gone through Modesto, Fresno, and stopped over in Bakersfield for a night's rest before setting out early on the third day, switching onto Highway 58 towards Barstow.

"Y'know, Rosho," Xania pointed out as we were pulled over at a rest stop about twenty miles west of Barstow, "'stead of heading straight for the Canyon, we could make a detour and go to Vegas! It's on the way! I've always wanted to see all the lights and the washed-up pop stars reduced to performing on stage six nights a week to make a livin'! How 'bout it?"

"Somehow…I don't think that's a good idea," I laughed. "The way you're acting, all those bright lights might just make you go crazy! And what's the point of going to Las Vegas if we can't even get into the casinos? That's what it's all about, right?"

"The casinos are overrated! What's the fun of losin' all your money?! I'm not the gamblin' type. I like to perform, to watch performers perform! Sure wish I coulda been around back at the turn of the century…Siegfried and Roy and their tigers. I heard their performances were to die for. And then of course Roy got mauled by Montecore and it was all over, not literally, but…y'know. Roy was never the same physically after that."

"Um…are you making comparisons between me and some old performer?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"…Not like THAT! I just meant…"

"Never mind." I paused. "Um…who's Montecore? I'm guessing one of their tigers?"

"Yeah. Roy said later on that he'd been feelin' sick that night, and claimed that he was startin' to collapse and Montecore grabbed him and dragged him to safety."

"Grabbed him…where?"

"By the neck," she laughed. "I know, sounds fruity to me too, but that's the story he went by. If he were still alive I'd ask him again, but I'd probably just get the same answer."

"Probably," I agreed. "Some people have too much pride. Others just don't want to admit something they loved hurt them that way… Maybe…he was a little bit of both." I had to think for a minute. "Wasn't there some other magician? Um…"

"Harry Houdini?" Xania suggested. I nodded. "Oh, I read all about him. And yes, I do read!" she snapped teasingly at me when I started to say something in reply. "He supposedly had a stomach of steel, and one day this one guy came up to him while he was distracted and asked if he could punch him in the stomach. Houdini just kinda nodded, and before he could ready himself, POW!" She made a punching motion with her arm. "He was socked in the stomach! Little while later, he got sick with appendicitis and performed with a 104-degree fever. His appendix burst, and he got…whatever sickness you get when that happens…and he died on Halloween. And y'know what else? There was one trick he said he would do, but to this day, over a hundred twenty-five years later, that he hasn't done."

"And what's that? Come back from the dead?" I asked curtly, not expecting it to be right.

Her jaw slackened. "Wha?! You knew?! Damn! …Yeah, he said he was gonna come back from the dead. Still hasn't done it. And after all this time, I bet he wouldn't look too pretty either."

"Hmm…what about that Lenin guy? Didn't they finally bury him about twenty years ago?"

She shuddered. "Yeah. I heard his body was about 85-percent wax though by the time they did. Ewwww. I'd hate to have been one of the guys bathin' his body every year, gluing his ear or his nose back on."

"That's gross!!"

"Embalming ain't perfect!" she joked, sticking her tongue out. "Though I think his dead corpse still looked decent enough as long as ya didn't look too close."

"Why are we talking about this?" I looked down at the snack in my hand and tossed it aside. "Now you made me lose my appetite."

Xania laughed again, her tail twitching. "Whoops, sorry! You wanna get goin' now? I bet we could get to the border by the end of the day."

"We could get there in a couple hours if we don't stop…which isn't gonna happen. This damn thing guzzles gas like nothing else!"

"It's a motorcycle! That's what they do!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I've had this thing for almost two years."

_Two years?,_ I suddenly thought. _Is that all?_ Oh, what had gone on in those two years…it seemed like the day I had gotten my bike was a lifetime ago. It was back before the whole Knight Saber thing, before I had even won at Nationals or gone to Worlds. That was…an entirely different me who had received this bike for her sixteenth birthday, a different me who had promptly also gotten her first speeding ticket that day. It was the last normal birthday I ever had. And as a birthday present the next year, turning seventeen, I'd almost gotten a bullet in my head, courtesy of Boh, if it hadn't been for a well-timed sneeze. The memory of that day still turned my stomach.

Out of reflex, I went and scratched the back of my head.

"You alright?" Xania asked.

"Huh? Yeah…I was just…reminiscing," I said. "It just seems I've had my bike forever. Like I've lived an entire lifetime with it, and yet…"

Xania offered a kind smile and put her hand on my shoulder. "Rosho, it's…it's all right. I know what you're gettin' at. I know it ain't the same, but I feel like I've had my tail for forever; I can't imagine what like was like without it, although I've only had it for, what, almost six years." She gasped. "Lemme see that map," she said suddenly.

"Why?" I asked, handing it to her.

"After Barstow we're gettin' on I-40, right?" She looked for Interstate 40 on the map, and once she located it, she traced her finger along that line on the map, seeing where it was going. "Oh shit!" she cried out.

"What? What is it?!"

"Dammit…God dammit…it goes right through Needles…fuck me!"

"What's so special about Needles?" I didn't need to look at the map to know it was the town right on the California-Arizona border. I'd eyed our route a hundred times in the last few days, so I knew which town was coming up after the other.

"…That's my hometown," she said hoarsely, taking off her shades with a shaking hand. "That's where I lived until I was ten, when I…bounced around from home to home until I came to live with my mom now."

I didn't know what to say. I should've expected that answer, but it was still a shock. "You know, Xania, we…we can go around it if you want," I offered. "There's other ways to get to the Grand Canyon. Hell, if we dodged Needles we'd probably end up going through Vegas like you wanted!"

Xania wiped away a tear and stood up defiantly. "Nope," she stated proudly, throwing her shades back on, a tight, defiant smile on her face. "We're goin' to Needles! 'Bout time I paid a visit anyway. Not all o' my memories of there are bad. I've got good ones. I wanna…at least revisit those good ones. That's worth the trip through…right?"

"Yeah. Of course it is," I agreed, returning a soft smile. "But still, I need to let you know right now…" I looked at the map. "Once we get to Barstow, you gotta make a decision. Either we get on I-40 and go right through Needles, or we take I-15 to Las Vegas."

"Screw Vegas," she spat vehemently. "It's my chance… It's my chance to…to face up to everythin', and…and finally say good riddance and fuck you to my parents!"

I smiled. There was the Xania I knew. "Good for you. Let's do it."

We got on the road again, and in no time, we were passing through Barstow. I gave Xania one more chance to choose our route to the Canyon from here on; she still chose I-40. And with that, we continued down through the heart of California, straight towards Arizona, Needles, and our ultimate destination.

At the same time, part of me knew that I was more than likely about to see a part of Xania that I would rather have not known existed.

-----

Xania had told me that from what she remembered, Needles was a small town that had only been getting smaller over the years. It regularly got to be 110 degrees in the summer, and with global warming it was only getting worse. Little wonder that not many people stayed in the town, especially with the lure of higher-paying jobs elsewhere. At first glance, I didn't have to ask at all why people would leave. There was nothing there. Most of the buildings were condemned, none of the cars there could have been any newer than 2035…nothing to be afraid of at all, unless you were a believer in ghosts.

"Looks like a dead town to me," I remarked. "Suppose there's a hotel we could stay for the night?"  
"Yeah," she said quietly. "But I can't vouch for the quality of 'em."

"I don't care about the quality, just as long as there's a bed."

Xania just grunted as we slowly drove down a random street, looking for a hotel that looked like it was still running. Didn't take long to find one; it was about the only place I'd seen so far with any number of cars in the parking lot.

"We can go check in, and if you want, we can walk around," I suggested. "Does any of this look familiar to you?"

She just gulped stiffly and nodded, looking around. "Everything looks exactly the same as it did nine years ago. Creepy."

"Suppose anyone would remember you?"

"Why would they?" she spat in disgust as we walked into the small room that the hotel considered its check-in lobby. "If you saw a picture of me then, you wouldn't even believe that ten-year-old and me are the same person."

"How can I help you ladies today?" the lady at the desk asked. If I were to guess her age, I'd have said about fifty. She had mousey-colored hair, thin lips, small, sad brown eyes, and some of the skinniest arms I had ever seen. I had to rethink my stance on her age; it was apparent she had done drugs, and for a long time. They made her look way older; I repositioned myself to think that she was probably thirty or thirty-five, but looked fifty-five thanks to her apparent habit. And when she smiled at us…it took all my willpower not to hurl. Yep. The telltale signs of meth mouth were there. Xania turned her head; she recognized it as well.

"We just need a room for the night."

"Just you two?"

"Yes."

"Names?"

"Rocío Monterrey and Xania Peters."

"Alright, I have a double reserved for you up on the second floor. Has clean sheets, a bathroom, and the TV should be working alright, though the cable's been on the fritz lately so I can't promise anything there."

"That's fine."

She nodded as she typed our info into her computer, which must have been older than me and Xania. "Okay, your total is $62.50."

"Expensive for a roach motel," Xania coughed to herself as I handed over my debit card.

"Maybe so, Bridget," the lady said with a smile, "but I'd like to see you find a better one around here."

Xania did a double take; so did I, actually. How did this lady know Xania's real name?!

"Fuckin' A…" she spat under her breath. "I remember you…"

She stood up and walked around the desk, standing just in front of my shell-shocked friend. "I hope so. Because I recognized you the moment you walked in. It's been years and years, but that face and that haircut…I could never forget it…" She eyed Xania's tail curiously. "Though that is new to me…"

"Jill…" she sighed.

"Um…how do you know each other?" I interrupted.

"I was her neighbor," the lady, Jill, replied. "And the one who called the police."

"It wasn't your place…" Xania said, suddenly shaking, her head bowed, her eyes glued to the floor. "I was gonna get help for myself…"

"Well, I know that, but I didn't want to have you suffer any more in that house than you already had." She smiled sadly. "So, dear, what brings you back to Needles?"

"Spring break…me and Rosho are headin' for the Canyon."

"I'm glad to see you're doing well… Why did you change your name, anyway?"

"Bridget's boring," she said. "Xania's a cooler moniker."

"I must agree," she laughed.

"I don't remember you bein' a meth-head, though. The hell happened to you?"

Jill could only sigh and shake her head. "It's something I'd rather not discuss. I know you can't see it, but I've been clean for a year."

"Could at least get your teeth fixed," Xania said tartly. "Ain't there any dentists left here? I bet they'd make a fortune in this town."

"If there were, I still couldn't go. Nobody's gonna work for free, especially to help a druggie like me."

"Well, still, it's disgusting. Look like my dad's teeth." Xania shuddered. "Um…I don't suppose you know, but…d'you what happened to my parents? I…the last time I saw them was in court when they were giving up their parental rights or some shit like that."

"Bridget, I wish I knew, or I'd tell you."

"STOP that!!" she screamed. "I'm not Bridget anymore!! Call me Xania! I'm Xania Peters! I don't know any damn Bridget!"

"Xania…" I started, putting my hands on her shoulders.

"Don't touch me!" She tossed my hands off her, startling me.

"Br—er, Xania, hon, please," Jill offered, putting one of her own hands where mine had just been, "it's alright. I'm surprised you came back, to be honest. I know I wouldn't want to come back here, but me, personally, I don't have anywhere else to go. At least you got out of here while you still had a chance to have a life."

"I…I needed to come back," Xania said, her voice choking. I'd never seen her so close to tears before. It was unnerving, to say the least, but I can't say that it was unexpected. I'd learned to expect the unexpected from her. "Didn't want to, but…just to see if what I remember…really is as bad as I think it was."

"There's nothing worth remembering. Your old house is still there, but there's nothing inside to see."

"Never said I wanted to see the inside of it. I know what the inside looks like."

"Xania…" I said slowly, "maybe we should just head to our room, huh?"

She turned to me, looking at me like I was speaking Greek. "I…our…room? S-sure…I guess we could do that…"

Jill handed us the key to our room and told us which room it was. After we finished checking in, we headed outside, walked up some metal stairs to the outside balcony on the second floor, and headed down to a grey door which held our room number on it, faded but visible: 234. Inside was unimpressive, as I had expected: drab comforter and sheets on the two queen-size beds, beige walls, faded paintings hanging on said walls that were probably picked up at a flea market or something for three dollars, a small TV on an equally small dresser…and, thank God, a bathroom, the door to which was next to the TV. In the bathroom was crammed a toilet, sink, and shower, with hardly any room to move around in there otherwise. It would do; we would only be here for one night before moving on, anyway.

"It's not the Ritz, but at least it's clean, right?" I asked Xania, only to turn and find her sprawled out on one of the beds. She was snoring lightly, having seemingly passed right out the moment she laid down.

I couldn't blame her; who would've thought that upon coming into her old hometown, that she would come across somebody she knew? Not only any 'somebody,' but THE 'somebody' who had helped her get out of that house nine years ago. To use a phrase Michiko would have used, "Isn't that just the darndest coincidink?" I probably would have been overwhelmed too. I even bet that until Jill called her by her real name, that Xania hadn't even remembered her, much less thought about her over the years since her 'rescue.' It's funny, the things the mind will choose to remember and what it will block out. Fortunately, the things it blocks out are usually blocked out for a reason, and whatever was blocked out in my mind, I'm sure I wouldn't give a damn what any of those things were, not if they were only gonna cause me grief.

But still…what was the story there? The one between Xania and Jill? I didn't feel right asking Jill – I didn't know her at all – and the person I did want to ask was fast asleep in bed. I laid down in the other bed and folded my arms behind my head, staring up at the stained ceiling, watching the blades of the ceiling fan go 'round and 'round, just waiting for her to wake up. That was all I could do in order to not force the issue.

I didn't know how long I had been laying there, but by the time I opened my eyes, having closed them to concentrated on my thoughts, the light streaming in through the window was orange, which told me the sun was setting. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Xania start to stir. I just watched as she sat up and took off her shades, rubbing one of her eyes with her fist.

"Xania?"

She turned to look at me. "…What?" she asked hesitantly. "You weren't here the whole time, were you? You coulda gone out to do some sightseein'."

"I wanted to talk to you," I replied, sitting up. "Besides, I figured it'd be best if we did that together. Didn't want to leave you alone, the way you are right now and all."

"The way I am?" she repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? You're a wreck! You've been like this practically from the moment we passed the Welcome to Needles sign!"

"What's it matter to you?"

"It matters a lot to me! You say you're not Bridget anymore, but it's more than damn clear to me that that ten-year-old who got rescued from the meth house is still inside you somewhere. If you weren't her anymore, you wouldn't give a damn about passing through here. But look at you, you're…you're not the Xania I've known the past seven months. You've reverted. You ARE Bridget again. And you're scared. But why? I know this is the place where you've had all that stuff happen to you, but those people aren't here anymore. With any luck they're rotting in jail the next fifty years. This town is a shell of what I'm sure it used to be. There's nothing to threaten you here now. It's your memories scaring you…not the town itself." I chuckled nervously. "I'm a hypocrite now. I guess we all are at some point. I say it's the memories scaring you, but I think if I went by the site where the convention center used to be…I'd…" I took a breath. "I don't know…what I'd do. I've been avoiding it on purpose."

"You ARE a hypocrite," Xania agreed, hugging her knees as she nodded slowly, setting her shades on the nightstand. "At least you admitted it."

"So why don't you start from the beginning?" I suggested, getting up from my bed and sitting next to her on hers. "Beginnings aren't bad."

"They're not, huh? But you're a product of rape."

"That's…before the beginning. Mom DID love me from the beginning, from the moment I was born. Now, what's your earliest memory?"

"You sure you're not a psychotherapist?"

"You kidding? I can't stand them. It's just a question. Now tell me, what is it?"

"My earliest memory?" Xania leaned back, her hands behind her for support, and closed her eyes. "I remember a park…funny, 'cause there ain't none around here…but I was in a park, and…Dad was carrying me on his shoulders. I was laughing. I musta been three or four."

"See? That's not bad."

"Ok, smartass. What's yours?"

"Mine?" I smiled as the scene put itself together in my mind. "Mine is…of my mom. She was recording. I remember sitting on a stool, watching her from the other side of the glass, just being awed by her voice. It was her first album after she had me, so I was probably four."

"Everything's nice when you're still a toddler…which makes me wonder, why does everythin' suddenly change when you're older?" she wondered out loud.

"Life experiences make us less naïve about the world, I suppose," I said.

"Heh. I suppose that might be it. Life experiences aren't supposed to come bite you in the ass when you're seven though! That's when Mom…started cookin' weird shit in the kitchen. I'd come home from school, and I'd see all these weird bottles on the kitchen table, stuff you'd use for cleanin' or first aid. I remember seein' ammonia, and a bottle of peroxide she'd use to clean up my scrapes. I asked 'er what she was doin', and she said it was stuff that wasn't for kids; 'candy for grown-ups,' she called it. And I'll tell ya, it didn't smell like no candy I'd ever wanna try.

"I think about it now and wonder when she first got hooked, 'cause it just seemed like out of the blue she suddenly started cookin' that 'candy' twice a week. She and Dad would grind it up, snort it, then just start talkin' and laughin' together. And then, when ya think everything's ok, they'd start screaming at each other. I'd hide an' cry in my room. It happened more and more, and I'd start bein' afraid to come home after school, 'cause I didn't wanna see them screamin' at each other. But one day I came home and they were doin' just that. Mom was rippin' stuff off the walls and throwin' it at Dad, and one picture frame hit me in the head, and I started cryin'. Mom stopped and looked at me; you'd think she'd start apologizin' or somethin', but no, she started goin' off on me too! Screaming stuff that didn't make sense. After that, I'd just sit outside when I got home from school, and wait for it to be over."

"And…you were seven when it started?" I asked.

"Yeah. It got even worse after that, too, if you can believe it. Sometimes a couple of their guy friends would come over with a carload of shit used to make more of THAT shit. And one day, they'd ran out of stuff, so they took off with Mom and Dad to the store to go buy some, and they all told me to watch the kitchen, make sure the 'candy' didn't burn. And what did I do?" She smirked. "I let it burn. And then I dumped it in the trash. They got home, saw what I did, and started pullin' my hair and yellin' at me. They forbade me to go into the kitchen at all after that, but whenever I did, and I started to grab the pot from the stove, they'd pull me back by my hair. Sometimes they'd get fistfuls of it out by the roots. I dreaded that, but I knew I had to get rid of that stuff. I thought if I did…I'd get my real parents back…" Xania started wiping at her eyes. "Shit, as much as I hated gettin' my hair pulled, what I REALLY hated was when they'd make me eat it as punishment. They'd break off a tiny piece, then shove it down my throat, holdin' my mouth shut and holdin' my head back to make sure I swallowed it. Made me so fuckin' sick… I'd go to the bathroom right afterwards and puke it up. It tasted…so nasty. And they'd…they'd just laugh. My reaction was how they judged how good the meth was."

I had to resist the urge to start swearing like a sailor. How terrible these parents of hers were! What kind of parents would do that to their own kid?! But I bit my tongue and tried to stay calm, for her sake. "Earlier you said it only happened three or four times. Is that true?"

"Thankfully, yeah. But…"

"But what?"

She was trembling. "I dunno! I…wish they'd known I was tryin' to save 'em! But they just saw me as getting in the way of their fun! Didn't they…love me?!"

"Xania…"

"The school would call 'em for conferences 'cause they were worried about my grades; they'd been fallin' the past year or two. They'd never go, of course, 'cause they were too busy gettin' high. I'd have to steal from other kids' lunches 'cause they'd never pack me one. I was thankful when I got detention, 'cause that meant I wouldn't have to see Mom and Dad in their messed-up state for a while longer yet. I got in trouble a lot; I'd pull all sorts of pranks…at least I was gettin' attention for something."

I didn't say anything.

"Know what else is funny? One day Mom actually checked the answerin' machine, and when she heard about me gettin' into trouble at school, she went off on another of her tangents again! She said she didn't understand what was goin' on with me, why I was bein' such a bad girl! Can you believe that?" She wiped tears from her eyes. "And she started pullin' my hair, again. I kicked her, in the stomach…just to get away. And I ran and got a pair of scissors, and snip snip, all my hair was gone. I was practically bald. At least she couldn't pull my hair anymore. She looked at me all shocked, then just said 'Do whatever the fuck you want. I don't care.'"

"…You were nine then." I'd recalled that from our earlier conversation.

"Yeah," she nodded. "You'd think I'd have tried to ask somebody for help, help to get my parents back, but I was fuckin' scared, Rosho. I…I was scared they'd be mad at me if I told anybody else. So I didn't. And then one day, out o' nowhere…the cops showed up, caught 'em redhanded. The pot was boiling on the stove, my parents and their friends were laughin' it up…and I was layin' in bed, sick from the fumes. They came and knocked on the door, and Mom answered. She and the others got a little paranoid and started screamin', but the cops arrested 'em, and came upstairs and carried me down the stairs. They set up a tent in the street where they could spray me down and decontaminate me. I couldn't get anything from the house; it was all ruined, they said. I was in the hospital for a couple days for observation, then I went into the system."

"And that's how you ended up with your foster mom?"

"Not right away. I had four foster families before I lived with her. None of them could put up with me. From what I remember, I guess I didn't…trust them enough. I was afraid they would be messed up just like my parents were."

"For nineteen…I think you have some pretty good insight into what went on," I pointed out. "Not everybody would recognize that they only acted a certain way for a certain reason. Normally they'd just start pointing fingers and say 'I'm messed up because of him' and not know why."

"Back then I didn't know I was being bad. With the foster families, I mean. I was just…tryin' to get by. They'd be nice and all, but I'd always wonder what the catch was. 'What's the catch? Why are you being nice? What do you want from me?' That sort of thing."

"And your current foster mom is the only one who could get through to you?"

"I wouldn't say she's gotten through. I just think she's the only one willing to put up with me. Hell, I aged out of the system a year ago, but she's still let me live there."

"I know. Greg told me."

"…Greg?! Why the hell did he do that?! The son of a bitch!"

"He told me he still cares about you. He says you're still distrusting of people, even him, and that's why you broke up." I held up a hand to stop her when she started to protest. "And I KNOW you said it was because you were bored with him, but…maybe you fell in love and were afraid of what to do with that feeling. It's not like HE'S an addict."

"He's…a good guy," Xania admitted. "But…he's…he can be too much sometimes. He told me about his dream to join the Army or Marines or some shit, and…"

A light clicked in my head. So that was it.

"You knew he'd have to leave for BT. And you didn't think he'd come back or still have the same feelings for you," I realized. "Is that it?"

For the first time, I saw Xania break down in tears. She buried her face in her knees and convulsed with the sobs coming from her. I reached out a hand to try to comfort her, but it froze in mid-air. I didn't know what to do. I'd never seen her like this.

"Xania…"

"People suck," she cried. "You give your love to them and all they do is turn around and stomp on it. It's not worth it."

"I used to think that way," I told her. "Until I came here, Mr. Ishiodori was the only guy that I thought was an honest and loving guy, who could do no harm to anyone. I didn't trust men or guys at all otherwise. And usually it was because all they wanted to do was sleep with me. You know how many guys I've punched out because of that? Anyway…when I came here, I met Tyler and Greg…and I learned that there ARE decent guys in the world."

"And I've wondered why you're still a virgin," Xania joked through her tears.

I smirked. "You've slept with all those guys because you were looking for some sort of love and affection. You didn't get it from them, so you left. And when you found a guy you COULD get it from…you still left. I know why: you were scared, like you said. But…sometimes you just have to take a chance. I know I still need to. And…" I suddenly huffed; what was I saying? "And…I'm not ready to yet," I finished quickly. "I'll do it on my own time. But, Xania…maybe you should give Greg a chance. He's a good guy, and he does like me, but…I think you're the one he really loves. All he does is talk about you."

"…You think so?"

"Yeah. I'm not experienced in relationships, but I can honestly say that he does love you. And based on your reaction when I bring him up, I can see you love him too. So when we get back to Sacramento…you should give it another shot with him. I think it'll turn out all right this time around."

Xania wiped at her eyes again and lifted her head. They were bloodshot, which made the blue of her eyes even more shocking. "I…maybe…maybe I could. But I'm still not sure…"

"It could be a first step. You've been suffering for nine years. You deserve to have someone who loves you."

"Really?"

"Yes. Everyone does…oh God, do I sound naïve right now or what…"

She burst out laughing. "You sure do!! And I still gotta set you up with somebody!"

I smirked again. "Um…no thanks. We're talking about you here."

Xania practically threw herself against me at that moment, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. "I'm glad to have someone like you," she cried. "I dunno how on earth we managed to become friends, with the way I am and the way you were back then, but…I guess this was the reason, so you could help me."

I sighed and hugged her back, at the same time having a similar conversation appear in my head. It was from last summer…when Michiko and I had gone to relax in a spa. She'd found out I was a Knight Saber, and yet she swore to be there for me…

_"No matter what you're doing…I'm still gonna be here to support you. Vigilante or not…I'm still going to stand by you. It's not my place to say whether…whether you should quit or stay."_

_"I…appreciate it. You've always been a good friend, Micchan. I don't…don't know how I could have gotten through a lot of this without you."_

_"That's why I'm here, Yucchan. I wouldn't be being a good friend if I didn't stay around when you needed me."_

"Rosho? Are you ok? You're shaking." Xania's voice suddenly pierced my head, shocking me back into reality.

"Y-yeah," I said, letting go of her. "I was just…getting déjà vu." That conversation seemed so far away now…had that really been less than a year ago? And where was she now? She had promised to be there for me no matter what… "M-Michiko…said she'd be there for me…it was kinda like this, except we were in a Jacuzzi-like tub in a spa."

"I think she's still here. She's watchin' over you and everybody. You oughta be proud of her. People all say they'd die for somebody, but she actually did it. She loved you. She still does. And so do I."

_What about Mom and the others, then?,_ I thought as she hugged me again. _Do they still wonder about me, how I'm doing? Am I still Yumeko inside somewhere?_

_-----_

I had known for a while that Xania smoked marijuana every so often; as far as I knew, she hadn't done it since she met me. So it didn't strike me as too out of the ordinary when she suggested we go to a local bar. "They ain't gonna card us," she promised. "I don't think they'd give a shit who drank there, as long as they had some business."

"Me and liquor don't mix very well…" I reminded her stoically.

"Well, that was vodka and punch. That's hard-core. Just try out a beer or somethin', and learn your limit that way."

"At least if I get a hangover, I know you can always cook a good breakfast for me!"

"Too bad I'm not the one cookin' tomorrow though! I think our choices are either stale bagels from the motel, or gas station burritos."

I shook my head, practically digging my heels into the ground. This whole bar thing didn't seem like a good idea to me, and that was if you didn't include my experience with the vodka and Rob at the party. Including it, it just spelled disaster. I could imagine Xania bringing some strange guy back to our motel room and having raunchy sex with him with me being forced to watch. Nope, not a good idea, not to me.

"For God sakes, Rosho! Lighten up!" she snapped at me, slapping me on the shoulder. "Just 'cause it involves a little booze don't mean it's gonna turn out like that thing did with Rob!"

"That 'thing'? He practically raped me! How am I supposed to let that go? I was hoping my first time being touched like that would have been special…" I blushed when I realized what I was saying, but I continued. "I…I can't get that back now. All I can do is…"

"Die without knowin' what 'love,' quote unquote, is? So cliché, especially for you." She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the motel room and down the stairs. "I promise, I am NOT tryin' to get you laid. I'M not even tryin' to get laid. I just figure we gotta have a good time. It's spring break, remember?! And after today…phew, damn, I'm up for a stiff one, bad."

_That better not be some kind of double innuendo,_ I thought. "It's not a smart idea," I said again. "How do we get back here if we're both drunk?"

Xania looked at me as if I had three heads. "Uh, duh! I saw a bar a half-block down the street when we got here! We can just walk!"

"You're insisting on us getting drunk, aren't ya!"

"Damn straight I am!"

"Well…as long as you don't do certain things."

"What do you mean?"

I smirked as we walked out of the motel complex and headed towards this bar Xania had said she'd seen. "Mom used to tell me about Aunt Nene doing strange things whenever she got drunk…like stripping. Nene would deny it, of course, and I honestly don't know who to believe." I laughed. "Either way, it's still a funny story."

"Believe you me, I can hold my liquor better than that." She paused, then added playfully, "but you may end up exposed to a little off-key karaoke."

"Is there any other kind?" I joked.

"I have yet to hear any other, so touché."

The bar looked just as run-down as any other building in town, and just like any other cliché bar you'd see, there was the obligatory 'Budweiser' florescent sign hanging in the window. I let out a sigh, preparing myself for the worst as Xania opened the door and we both walked inside.

A few men sitting at the bar looked up, but thankfully they didn't make catcalls at us; I had half-expected that to be the case. I loosened my fist, having had it ready just in case.

"See?! Karaoke!!" Xania exclaimed loudly, pointing to the far corner of the bar, where a small stage, stereo, and TV stood, waiting to be used. I groaned to myself.

"Do you have to be so loud?" I snapped under my breath.

"Hi there, ladies!" the bartender called out. "How are you this evening?"

"In need of something stiff!" Xania said, skipping up to the counter and pulling out a stool to sit on. "Get me a shot of Southern Comfort."

"You old enough?"

"Old enough to know that I need some," she retorted lightly, making me snicker. The bartender smiled, looking amused.

"What about your friend there?"

"I'll just…have a Bud," I said, sitting next to Xania; I didn't know what else to ask for. I knew enough to know that some Jack Daniels would be too strong. I had never heard of Southern Comfort before, but once Xania's shot was handed to her and she immediately jerked her head back and slammed it down, I knew it was something I wouldn't have given her again.

"WHEW!!!" she hooted. "That's some good shit! Get me another!"

"'Whew' is right," I reiterated, waving my hand in front of my face. "Smells like cough syrup."

"Tastes like it too! But it's good! Wanna try a shot?"

"No, I'll just stick with my beer." I twisted off the bottlecap with my bare hand – thanks to my gymnastics training, they were so callused it hadn't even hurt – and took a sip, grimacing when the strange flavor saturated my mouth. I swallowed, then took another sip; wasn't as bad that time. I figured that would be alright. Didn't need to experiment. At least it didn't taste like that vodka-spiked punch.

Xania had three shots of the Comfort stuff, then asked for a bottle of Captain Morgan's. All I could do was gape; she'd already seemed drunk after the second shot, and here she was having a bottle of more booze on top of that. She'd just turned nineteen, so I was hoping she wasn't gonna try to have nineteen drinks to celebrate. I'd heard of people doing that when they turned twenty-one, but twenty-one shots would be enough to kill a horse, I'm sure. Thankfully, once she polished off her bottle, Xania seemed content.

But then, she did what every drunk person seems to love to do.

She went up to the karaoke machine.

"Rosho!!" she called out to me. "Sing wi' me!!"

"What?!"

"You heard me! Let's duet!"

"Xania, you're drunk!!"

"An' I told ya, off-key karaoke! It's what you're gonna hear!! Now let's do it!!" She urged me to come onto the stage with her.

"I'm not done with my beer," I pointed out, hoping to stall her. But it didn't faze her.

"Finish it! Chug it! C'mon!" she bellowed.

I groaned. At that moment, the other guys in the bar started hooting and hollering at me to get up there and join her. "No!" I snapped, though my resolve was fading; for some reason my legs wanted to move me onto that stage. Maybe it was the beer talking, but no; I didn't feel drunk. I wasn't drunk. Was I? No…this didn't feel like that vodka did, and yet…

"_It's My Life_! I already chose the song! You know it?" Xania yelled. I reluctantly nodded. "Good! Now get your ass up here!"

I groaned again, then drank the last half of my beer and trudged up to the stage with her, the half-dozen guys in the bar cheering.

"Ain't seen a gal do this in months!" one guy exclaimed, a Michelob in his hand.

"What's your plan?" I mumbled to her, blushing in embarrassment. I'd never sung in front of a crowd before!!

"You can do the first verse, I'll do the second, and we both can sing the chorus!" she chirped.

The music started. BUM BUM…a piano playing for a few seconds…another BUM BUM…more piano… I took a breath and grabbed the microphone nearest me. _God, what am I doing?!,_ I thought. _Guess I'll go for it!_

"_This ain't a song for the broken-hearted_," I sang, tossing my hair back over my shoulder. _"No silent prayer for the faith-departed. I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd, you're gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud…_"

BUM BUM…

"_It's my liiiiife,_" me and Xania both yelled into our mikes, "_and it's now or never! I ain't gonna live forever! I just wanna live while I'm alive! My heart is like an open highway; like Frankie said, I did it my way! I just wanna live while I'm alive! It's—my—life!!_"

The crowd cheered loudly. I didn't know if it was from me being half-drunk or from me actually singing in front of everybody, but I felt a high unlike anything I'd felt before, aside from my gymnastics. This was pretty damn awesome.

"_This is for the ones who stood their ground_," Xania crooned. "_For Tommy and Gina, who never backed down. Tomorrow's gettin' harder, make no mistake. Luck ain't even lucky, gotta make your own breaks…_"

BUM BUM…

As we sang the chorus again, I could feel myself feeling, as the song said, more alive. Live while you're alive…it seemed like common sense, but I guess until you actually hear those words, you just get too busy to even think about it.

"_Better stand tall when they're callin' you out; don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down,_" I let out before Xania and I both let out into the chorus twice more, as the song called for. And as we let out that final, "_IT'S—MY—LIFE!!_" everyone stood up and cheered, clapping and clinking their beers together. I let out a breath and tucked my hair behind my ears, grinning; that was so different from what I had anticipated. I could understand why Mom lived for this sort of thing!

"Now," Xania called out, "howzabout we sing that other song that talks about Tommy and Gina, huh?!" The crowd vehemently agreed.

"Yeah, yeah! Hell yeah! Do it!!"

"Other song…?" I asked. "I think I know which one that is…"

"The guy's first major hit as far as I know," Xania said, grinning from ear to ear. "_Livin' on a Prayer_."

"Oh, right! That one! It's been a while since I've heard it…"

"Don't worry, you'll know it the moment you hear it."

Before I knew it, the music started, and I froze up. I wasn't sure if I knew the lyrics, but Xania apparently did. She burst right into it.

"_Once upon a time, not so long ago…_" And then she sang, "_Tommy used to work on the docks. Union went on strike, and he's down on his luck, it's tough. So tough._" A breath. "_Gina works a diner all day. Workin' for her man, she brings home her pay for love. For love…_"

The words clicked in my head then. I did know the song. Before she could sing the next verse, I burst in. "_She says we gotta hold on to what we've got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We got each other, and that's a lot – for love, we'll give it a shot!_"

Xania recovered from her shock and joined me in the chorus. "_Ohhh, we're halfway there. Ohhh, livin' on a prayer. Take my hand; we'll make it, I swear. Ohhh, livin' on a prayer!_"

It's what I'd been doing the whole time I'd been in California, living on a prayer, so to speak. I wanted to go home…wanted to be normal…but in the end it didn't matter. It didn't matter what I wanted; I couldn't control the course of events now. All I could do was live my life, while I was alive.

Damn. I'd integrated the song's lyrics into my very being. Maybe I was drunker than I thought.

After that song was over, I'd half-expected Xania to start singing _You Give Love a Bad Name_, but she didn't. She seemed satisfied with the two songs, and hopped off the stage, humming to herself happily. I remained on the stage, holding the mike in both hands, frozen. I wanted to do more. I wanted to sing one more song. But what song, I wondered?

"I need some suggestions here," I said shyly, wincing when I immediately was greeted with a barrage of song names and bands. Over at the bar, Xania just snickered to herself and shook her head. "What say you, Xania?" I spoke into the mike. "Any suggestions?"

"Replicants," she coughed jokingly. The crowd seemed to like that idea, and cheered.

"Well, what song by them, huh? They've got a lot."

"Can you sing their songs, though?" one guy in a white blouse called out. "Unless you speak Jap, I don't see how."

"Jap?" I repeated with a frown. "I don't know this 'Jap.' The lyrics are in Japanese, yeah, but not Jap. They're easy enough. I'm a fan, so I know the lyrics."

"So belt one out!" his friend, also in a white blouse, encouraged.

"I will, but which song?"

"I dunno, that hurricane one. Or one off their new album."

"_Konya wa Hurricane_ or one off the new album. Still a lot of choices there," I said. "I dunno. _Konya wa Hurricane_ sounds good to me. What about you all?"

The crowd cheered again. I smirked. "Ok, that's the one then."

The opening beat started, one that was all too familiar. If Mom had only made one album and been a one-hit wonder, I was sure this song would have been her one hit. Hell, it was still her most famous song to this day. Even the hicks here seemed to know it, which made me believe they weren't such hicks after all.

"OK!!" I yelled out. "_Arashi no highway hashiri-tsuzuketa, togireta yume no yukue sagashite. Nigai maboroshi subete no uso o senaka de hajikitobashite…_" A few bars. _"Big City kodoku na Heart To Heart. Minna ai no mayoigo. Big City namida wa Day By Day, nemurenai omoi o yusaburu dake!_"

The crowd may not have known the words, but they did join me in the chorus. _"Konya wa Hurricane! Anata ni Hurricane! Tsutaetai no Loving You! Konya wa Hurricane! Kanjite Hurricane! Sugao no mama Touch! Give Me Touch!_"

I smiled. I really did feel like my mom now. "You people are too much!" I joked before starting on the second part. "_Kotoba no darts nageau dake ja mune no itami wa wakariaenai. Oshiete hoshii nani ga anata no hitomi o kumoraseru no ka._"

As I sang the rest of the song, I could feel a part of her with me, her feeling proud of me, not just for singing, but for just living, for just…being. Singing her songs made me feel less lonely, made me feel normal for just a little while.

As long as I sang, she was there with me. I didn't need anything else.

-----

Xania was positively giddy when we left the bar; she was giggling and grabbing onto my arm; little wonder there, since I was holding it to make sure she didn't fall over. "That was so awesome!!" she exclaimed, her shades almost falling off her face. "Are you sure we have to leave?! Can't we stay there all night? I bet if they let us we could!"

"I'm tired," I replied, though I felt sort of giddy myself. "And you need some sleep. You're barely even coherent anymore."

"Coherent?! I'm coherent! I sang those songs, didn't I? And the crowd loved us! They loved me! They loved you! They loved…everybody! What a swell gang of people! Really, really swell!!" She giggled again, losing her footing when she tripped on a small rock on the sidewalk.

"Needles isn't as bad as you remember, see? People here seem to be really welcoming."

"They're passin' through, I bet. Yeah, passin' through. They ain't…got a clue what this place is all about," she said, brushing me off with a wave of her hand, though her face still looked extremely flushed. "One good night ain't gonna make up for the first ten years o' my life."

"No, but it helps."

"…Maybe." She gave me an uncertain smirk. "Hey, I got an idea for tomorrow! Uh…what's today?"

"Today is Sunday. We still have the whole break ahead of us. What's your idea?"

"We could stick around tomorrow! I wanna…I wanna see my old house! I bet it's a piece o' shit now, but I wanna see anyway."

"I thought you didn't want to see it."

"I changed my mind! Can I still do that, or is it illegal now?"

"No, it's legal. But earlier you were adamant about not going to see it."

"Still changed my mind!"

"Ok, ok, but first, you're going to bed. You're gonna be sore in the morning."

"Wha' 'bout you?" she asked with a slur in her voice as I dragged her up the stairs to our motel room.

"I only had one bottle of Budweiser. You had three shots of whiskey and a bottle of Captain Morgan's."

"Pfft. Ain't nothin'! I coulda done way more than that! Next time I'll show ya!"

I gave her a look. "Um…no."

I unlocked the door and gave her a shove inside. She stumbled, but managed to make her way to her bed. Remembering that she slept in the nude, I turned my back to her when she took off her jacket, and sure enough, the sound of the rest of her clothes falling to the floor followed.

"Good niiiight," she called out as she giggled again.

"Good night," I replied evenly. In seconds, she was out.

I sighed and smirked, shaking my head. Xania was definitely an eccentric person, but I'd known that already. Going to a bar to unwind may not have been the smartest thing for either of us to do, and not just because we were underage. But hell, the karaoke made it worth it, even if Xania had almost made an ass of herself by slurring her way through _Livin' on a Prayer_.

After I changed into a nightshirt and crawled under the covers, I could feel my hands twitch slightly. I sighed again and balled them up so they wouldn't do that. But then my feet twitched. What the hell was up with that? I sat up in bed and scratched the back of my head; maybe it was because I couldn't get to sleep, or maybe it was the aftereffects of that beer. Sure, I was a rookie at drinking, but one beer shouldn't have done that.

The longing feeling in the pit of my stomach made me realize what it was. I needed a hit! I reached into my bag and pulled out the white bottle, filling up the dropper. As I squirted the liquid on my tongue and swallowed it down, my stomach got warm and tingly, and I smiled. That felt better. Strange that after a fun evening like this, that I would need a hit, but I didn't think anything of it. Unlike the beer, the hydromorphone made my whole body warm, but it almost made me wonder why I would need that warm feeling when we were in the freakin' desert! _Nah…this is a different warm feeling. I like this warm feeling,_ I thought, putting away the bottle before I crawled under the covers again.

I jumped when I heard a snorting noise, like Xania was waking up. Had she seen me?

"Aaaahh…halfway there…livin'…"

_Oh, she's singing in her sleep!,_ I thought, stifling a laugh. That was all right. I could handle that. As long as it was only that.

The next morning, she was saying an entirely different kind of 'aaaahh,' the kind that goes with having had too much to drink the night before.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch," she groaned, wincing as she buried her face in the pillow.

"Weren't prepared this time, huh?" I joked as I came out of the bathroom, fresh out of the shower. The water had only been lukewarm, but as long as I got clean, I didn't care.

"This time? Whatcha mean?"

"When I got a hangover, you told me you were always prepared 'in case you were hurtin' in the morning.' You didn't bring anything, did you?"

"…Uh…uh-uh," she confessed. "Didn't think to bring any aspirin. Damn. I did have too much fun."

"We both did! Remember karaoke?"

"Yup." She smiled, her face albeit contorted in pain. "I think we brought down the house. Acted like they'd never seen anybody do karaoke b'fore. I wanna do it again. Can we do it again?"

"Sure, as long as you don't drink what you did last night," I laughed. "You're not gonna remember much of break if you keep doing that!"

She sat up in bed, holding the covers over her breasts so she could stay decent. "I said…I wanted to see the house again. Didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did. But you were hammered. Did you mean that?"

"Yeah," she affirmed, nodding slowly. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. No one's gonna be there, right? So it's not like anything's gonna happen. The worst that can happen is…"

"…Is you having a blackout like me?" I finished, throwing that suggestion out into the open. "We're alike, Xania, but I hope we're not THAT much alike."

"I've never had one. I don't…think that'll be a problem."

"We should check out first though, unless you intend to stay another night."

"No, no," she said quickly, stepping out of bed. I closed my eyes and turned my back to her; no matter how many times she pranced naked in front of me, it still embarrassed me. "I just wanna take a look at the house and then we can get the hell out of here. How far is it to Phoenix?"

"I would have to look at the guide, but we could probably get there by the end of the day if we don't stick around here too long."

"And as long as your bike doesn't overheat," she added as I heard her walk into the bathroom and turn on the shower. "It gets pretty damn hot out here, you know."

"I know, but it hasn't been a problem so far."

"As long as your tires don't melt, I don't think we'll have any problems," she teased, her voice getting muffled as she stepped behind the shower curtain.

"They can do that?"

"I've heard of it happening. Haven't seen it, but I wouldn't count it out."

"So, what're we doing for breakfast? Are our only options still stale bagels or gas station burritos?" I asked, repeating what she'd said the day before. I got no response. "Xania?"

"We'll see, I guess," she responded, sounding pained. "Oww, my head."

I just laughed.

-----

Xania took forever in the shower, which surprised me; the water definitely wasn't that hot. But soon enough she did come out and get dressed, and after we both packed up our bags, we left and went down to the lobby to check out.

"Don't forget breakfast, girls," Jill reminded us as she took the keys to the room, nodding towards a small living room-type area, where there was a couch, a TV, and a table with donuts and juice sitting out. "Somethin' for the road."

"We're not heading out just yet," I said. "Xania wanted to look around."

"Rosho!" Xania hissed.

Jill raised an eyebrow. "Look around? But yesterday didn't she say…"

"Yeah, she did, but she changed her mind."

"I'm not curious or nothin'!" Xania broke in. "I'm just…uh…"

"Curious?"

"I just said I'm not!"

"She changed her mind in a fit of drunkenness," I half-joked.

"Drunk?" Jill looked at Xania with a scornful eye. "Bridget, it's been a while since I've seen ya, but I KNOW you ain't old enough to be hitting the bottle."

"So? Better than meth," she spat back. "I don't drink all the time anyway."

"Binging is still bad in itself."

"And so is meth! What's your point, huh?"

I walked away from the pair and sat down on the couch, grabbing myself a donut and a cup of orange juice. The juice was warm, but I didn't mind. I sat there drinking it down and watching the news on the TV while they duked it out.

"Hey there!" I heard a guy call out. I turned around and saw it was the two guys in white blouses who had been in the bar the night before, the ones who had egged me on to sing _Konya wa Hurricane_. They were still wearing white blouses, but whether they were the same ones as last night, I couldn't tell.

"Hi," I said. "Small world, huh?"

"And smaller town. You're pretty good as a singer, y'know that?" the shorter one, who had a buzzcut, said. "You sound almost exactly like the gal who sings it originally."

"I do not," I replied, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

"Know any other songs of hers?"

"I'm a fan, so yeah, of course I do. But I'm not singing here," I laughed.

"Was that your favorite song?"

"Of hers? No. _Victory_ is my favorite."

"The oldies are the goodies, so they say," the second one, taller and with a longer face, said.

"They're not THAT old. One of the songs me and Xania sang last night is from the 1980's. Call THAT one old…although I do think that the Replicants' singer got her influence from those types of bands." I shrugged. "I'm just a fan, so what do I know?" I took a bite of my donut.

"She's making a cover album, ya know," he said. "Just started work on it."

"…She is?!" I jumped out of my seat, almost dropping my juice in surprise. I swallowed my donut quickly. "I mean…I hadn't heard that! What songs is she covering?"

The shorter guy shrugged. "She named off a few possibilities at a conference a few weeks ago, but I think she's keeping the choices under wraps until she's finished."

_Mom making a cover album? How strange,_ I thought. _I never thought she'd actually do one of those._ "Well…you can bet I'll be one of the first people lined up outside the music store to buy it when it comes out!" I declared, trying to make myself seem as outlandish as possible. I wasn't THAT big of a music geek, even for my mom's music. I was usually in the studio with her as she worked on those songs, anyway.

Well…usually…but not this time.

"I take it you're heading out?" the tall one said, nodding towards the bags that sat by the couch.

"Yeah. We were just passing through."

"Where ya heading?"

"The Grand Canyon. Never seen it before. Wasn't my idea though, it was Xania's. I'm just the chauffeur," I joked. "What about you? You look dressed too nice to be in a place like Needles."

"We're passing through, too," the short one answered with a smirk. "Business trip."

"Oh. Well, if you're heading east, maybe we'll see each other on the road."

"Maybe we will." They gave a wave as they walked out the door. "See you later."

"—Forget it!!" Xania yelled. "I don't want your pity! Never did!"

"If I hadn't called the police," Jill snapped, "what do you think would have happened? Huh? What do you think would have become of you in that hellhole?"

"I dunno!! And I don't care anymore, 'cause I ain't there anymore! That was then, and no matter what you say or ask about back then, nothin' is gonna change the fact that that place was what it was!"

"And it made you what you are! You know that!"

"Yeah, I do! And I hate it!"

"You guys are still arguing?" I interrupted, scratching the side of my head as I picked up my bag.

"I'm trying to tell her she didn't need to call the cops!" Xania explained, looking ready to spit on something. "I could take care of it myself!"

"I witnessed what you went through every day! Sitting on the porch, waiting for the right moment to go inside! Bridget, you'd be out there for hours! All those times when you'd come over to my place to wait it out…you don't remember that?" Jill queried. "You don't remember telling me you wish I was your mom, 'cause I actually 'gave you real candy'? You were too scared. Even if you planned to do something, I didn't think you'd do it anytime soon, so I HAD to act! For your sake!"

"Shut up…SHUT UP!!" Xania screamed. "You bitch!! I never said any of that! I didn't!!"

Now this, she hadn't gotten a chance to tell me.

"You did, dear. You did." Jill tried to put her hands on Xania's shoulders, but she tossed them off. "You were so fragile, so lonely…I did what I could without your strung-up mother putting her kitchen knife through my chest. She was paranoid; she thought she was raising you just fine. I knew better, and you knew better."

"She was my mom…I WANTED to…I wanted to get her back…even if I had to wait it out…" my friend suddenly cried. "I thought being there would…would help her, help Dad… I didn't eat half those snacks you gave me. I took them back to Mom and Dad; I wanted 'em to eat something besides those meth crystals, something, anything but those. Anything but…"

"I know…but you know, too, that I saved your life. These past nine years…you've had a chance to know what normal life is supposed to be like. You owe me nothing, so don't act like you're forever indebted to me. Just as long as you're not here…as long as you're anywhere BUT here…I know you'd have a chance at happiness. So get out of here, for good. Don't even come to visit. Leave this place behind for good. Let it only be a memory."

"Walking cliché book…" Xania muttered under her breath. "I didn't intend on stickin' around, ya know. Passin' through, that's all we're doin' here. Once we're gone, we're gone. Not even gonna stop here on the way back."

"Good. Good…"

I sighed and walked outside to wait for her to finish 'talking' with Jill. It didn't feel like it was my place, and it wasn't. I was sure if Xania intended for me to hear any of those things, she would have said so. The fact she didn't stop me as I left was proof she hadn't wanted me to hear any of it to begin with.

I took out my bottle of morphine and held it in my palm, gazing down at it. Drugs had made different people out of Xania's parents. Morphine was a drug…but it wasn't even on the same field as methamphetamines. Still…I knew it had its addictive properties, but I was certain that I wouldn't befall the same fate as her parents. I was stronger than that. Morphine did not have a hold on me. I only had it to help with my pain…my physical pain, my mental pain…

There no way I would let myself become addicted. I knew the signs, I knew the danger. I was smart enough to avoid that trap.

I put the bottle away in my jacket pocket. _I'm stronger than that,_ I thought. _I am stronger than that. I know I am. There's no way I would let a stupid bottle run my life. It just helps me over the rough patches, is all._


	3. Out of the bag

"That is a WRAP!!" Max cheered after we finished the song by Midler that we had chosen. After working on it for what seemed like forever – it was actually two days – we had finally managed to get it down as we saw fit.

"Keep on rockin', rock 'n' roll gonna never die," Hiroshi sang to himself, eliciting chuckles from Max and me.

"Yeah, first concert, we'll put you on vocals 'stead of Priss, Hiroshi," Max joked.

"Songs stick in your head every once in a while," Hiroshi shrugged. "Priss happened to like a catchy one."

"C'mon, no one doesn't like a catchy tune," I pointed out with a smirk, putting away my guitar. "So what're ya gonna do now, head out for a beer?"

"For once, no," Max said, running a hand through his thinning hair. "I'm tired as shit. I'm gonna head to bed. We head out in the morning anyway, right? Montreal or somethin'?"

"Yeah."

"Think we've done enough press for this thing? We've been all over the world in a month or somethin', I'm ready to head back to Tokyo."

"Don't worry, Montreal and Vancouver are the last ones. We'll probably be done with the album by then anyway."

"Ok. You comin'?"

"Nah. I've still got some stuff to do. I'll be over in a little bit though."

"Ok."

After Max and Hiroshi left, followed by the recording crew, I was left alone in the studio. I sighed and snapped the guitar case shut, wincing when I stood up again, a slight flash of pain making itself known under my ribs. Still healing…this didn't feel normal. Who cared if this wasn't a normal wound, it just wasn't normal for it to take so damn long to heal up.

Two months…it had been two months since that weird Boomer had ambushed me, since Madigan had walked up to me demanding to know where my daughter was. As if I was gonna tell her. How low of Genom, to be hunting down a seventeen-year-old girl, never mind that she was a Knight Saber, never mind that she had taken a solo journey to the summit of Genom Tower almost eight months prior. We all knew they were just trying to take her out so that they could more easily get to the rest of us. What, putting the blame on us for the Boomer summit disaster hadn't been enough?

I scratched my head and scrunched up my face in frustration. What were they trying to do? Trying to 'avenge' the lost souls from that time by taking us out, when they were the ones who orchestrated the whole thing? Didn't surprise me, but still…I'd rather have them leave my daughter out of it. She was caught in the middle of this whole damn thing, and I was the one to shoulder the blame for that.

Yume was my daughter. I knew I should've done more to protect her. But I was doing all I could do, and for now, that would have to be enough. Not that I was content with that, of course.

"Oh!"

I almost jumped when I heard a girl gasp behind me. I turned around and saw a short girl in a one-piece grey outfit standing at the doorway, her hair tied back in a do-rag. She removed her mop from its place above her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

At least I understood that much English. "It's fine," I managed to say. "Cleaning lady?"

"Yes, yes. Pardon me." She walked past me, and as I was about to leave, she started speaking in flawless Japanese. "The stingray's waiting."

"Huh?" I grabbed her by one shoulder and looked at her face. "Nene?!"

She grinned and winked. "It took you long enough. Did these colored contacts throw you off that much?" Her eyes had been brown instead of the usual green. But having known her for over twenty years, one would've thought I'd have recognized her right off the bat regardless.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to just show up, no."

"Like I said, Lady Stingray is waiting outside. She's set up a little job for you."

"A job? You're shittin' me."

"She set up an appointment for you to meet with one of the bigwigs who survived the summit. She thinks you could get him to start spilling some details he wouldn't say to anyone else."

"What makes her think that?"

"Because he's the one who wanted to hire the Knight Sabers for it."

My heart practically skipped a beat. She wasn't shitting me; I was gonna talk with the guy who'd hired us! Of course, there was no way he knew I was one of the people he hired. "Shit. That's awesome! But wait, what strings did you have to pull? There's nothing fishy here, is there? Genom's not trying to get him to get me in the same room as him so they can pull some stunt?"

"No, not at all. He's completely genuine."

"A genuine politician. An oxymoron if I've ever heard one."

"Sylia and Linna are waiting in a taxi outside. You better go."

"What about you?"

She gestured at her outfit. "I'm a janitor for now! Right now I just have to clean up while you guys are out! And maybe I'll clean up the systems here while I'm at it, in case anything got bugged. You know me."

"Yeah, yeah, never can be too thorough."

"Go, go!" she ushered me, shooing me out the door. "You wanted to be a part of this!"

I smirked and nodded, tossing my jacket over my shoulder as I left. After heading down the elevator and out the front, sure enough, I saw a yellow taxi waiting outside for me. A tall person stepped out of the back seat and held open the door for me so I could get in. Once I sat down and the person got back in and sat next to me, I could see it was Sylia.

"That's not a good color on you," I chuckled; Sylia's outfit, like Nene's, was grey, but it wasn't a janitor's outfit. It was more like a chauffeur's, even though she obviously wasn't the one driving. "And since when do taxi people dress like that?"

"You're a celebrity, you have to have someone escort you," she said coolly, but jokingly at the same time. Her tone turned serious. "Linna, how soon can we get there?"

"Based on the directions the GPS system is giving me and traffic, it says we can get there in half an hour," she replied from the front seat.

"Good."

We were in silence for the first few minutes after Linna pulled away from the building and we headed down the street, but finally I couldn't take it. "What's up?" I demanded. "What have you found out? What the hell is going on?"

"…The people we interviewed…did confirm seeing the Knight Sabers after the first explosions started at the summit," Sylia said slowly. "But they also confirmed seeing the two Boomers."

"But did anybody see us go against them? 'Cause it's no good if they think we sent them out!"

"Priss, I'm aware of that. And yes, one person did say he saw the green Knight Saber fight one of the Boomers. Naturally, he said he didn't stick around to watch."

"So this guy who hired us…what are you expecting him to say to me?"

"You're the most famous survivor of the summit. And as a celebrity people will listen to what you have to say. Two survivors talking isn't that unusual, and sometimes…people who can relate to each other in that sort of way start saying things…"

"If this guy is so important," I mused, "then why is it that Genom hasn't shut him up?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

"And if he says stuff to me that's relevant to us getting framed or whatever…and I go public about it…"

"Yes. People will know the whole thing was a setup." Sylia turned to look me square in the eye. "But you must know that if Genom knows of this, they will do their best to quiet you before you go public. So we need a disguise for you as well."

I laughed. "Ha! Like what? Some grey outfit like you or Nene have?"

Linna patted something on the front passenger seat that I couldn't see. "We've got you covered."

"It's not some obnoxious shit Nene came up with, is it?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Enough that no one'll know you're Priss Asagiri. Don't worry!"

"Linna, I've heard that before. And I don't like it."

-----

After Sylia and Linna dropped me off in front of a condominium building somewhere in north Manhattan, I got the feeling that I looked like nothing more than a high-end hooker. They'd had me don a hot-pink wig, with stick-straight hair that came down to just above my shoulders. On top of my head was a black broad-rimmed hat, and a black peacoat and cream-colored pants, along with a pair of shades – though why I was wearing them at night, I had no idea – completed my outfit. I felt ridiculous, but at least no one was giving me a second look. This was New York, after all; this was probably the fashion, not that I would have noticed.

I kept my feet glued to the sidewalk as I witnessed a suit-clad mousey-haired man come through the revolving doors, smiling at me. I didn't know what the guy looked like, but something told me this must be him. He walked with a slight limp, though one would've had to observe him closely to notice it, and he had a certain look in his eyes that said something weighed heavily on his soul…but didn't we all.

"You must be Kiri," he exclaimed in English, holding out his hand. I didn't shake it. "Won't you come in? It must be cold out here."

"I have a coat," I mumbled, forcing a small smile as he led me through the doors. It seemed too much like an obvious fake name to me, just taking one part of my last name and making it a name of its own, but it was too late to argue with Sylia; she'd already told him to expect a guest by the name of Kiri. Of course, he did know who I really was, but for security's sake nobody could say my name out loud. I just went along with it.

Once we stepped onto the elevator, he switched to Japanese, presumably sensing my unease with English. "Yes…a coat is nice, but still, if I had a choice, I'd rather be inside next to the fireplace with a glass of brandy in my hand."

"Your Japanese is good."

"Thank you. Being monolingual isn't an option when you're working for the government. In addition to English and Japanese, I have a fair command of French, German, and a smattering of Arabic."

"Must be hard to keep them all straight."

After entering a code allowing us to exit at this floor – each floor was a whole condo – he laughed as we got off the elevator. "Yes, it is when you don't have opportunities to practice." He beckoned me to sit down on the couch in the living room area. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"No, thanks, I'm all right." No matter what anyone said as far as how trustworthy this guy was, I still wasn't about to take a drink from him unless I could see him open it myself and keep an eye on it every second after that. I'd made that mistake once before…

He poured himself a glass of merlot, then sat down on the other end of the couch. With a snap of his fingers, fire erupted in the fireplace. "This last year has been rough. You know how hard it is to find a support group for survivors of exploding convention centers?" he asked, half-laughing at his own joke.

"That's the worst opening line I've ever heard," I replied coolly, smirking.

"You have to find humor somewhere in the midst of all this," he responded with a small shrug, mostly to himself. "Can you imagine the flak that we, as politicians, have gotten over the fallout from that thing? People pointing fingers, demanding someone hold themselves responsible. But you know who was responsible?"

I stayed quiet, assuming he'd finger the Knight Sabers. But he didn't.

He pointed at himself. "It was me. It was my fault."

"Your fault? How's it your fault?"

"Believe me, I knew that this was a highly publicized thing, and that these days, anywhere that a horde of bigwigs gather is a potential target for a terrorist attack. But to hire Boomers to guard the place? Why, that would've been contradictory to the whole purpose of the discussion, don't you think?"

"Well, yeah. But that'd be just like Genom. I don't put anything past the sons of bitches there." I snorted. "You wanna know what I think?"

He leaned forward. "What do you think, Miss Kiri?"

"I think it's a damn shame. A goddamn shame. All those people got killed, and for what? Genom seems to be more in control than ever now. You know about conspiracy theories, right? Hear any good ones?"

"Good ones? You mean about the Knight Sabers' involvement? Yes, I've heard all sorts of things. I've heard they shot people dead in the hallways of the convention center. I've heard they hijacked a particle beam satellite to blow the damn place up. I've even heard they hacked into a couple Boomers and lured them there so they could duke it out there just for the sheer irony factor. But what do you think?"

"Ironic, sure. I think everyone would've thought it ironic for there to be any Boomer rampages while the summit was going on. But I suppose even if there were, people also assumed the Knight Sabers would be there to save the day."

"And they tried…they did. But they failed, and one-hundred-and-eight people died as a result."

"…How do you know they were there?" I asked. "Did you see them, or did someone else say they were there?"

"I saw the purple Knight Saber run by me when she came into the convention center. I could hear fighting at the other end of the corridor, and once she got by me, I took off like a shot."

"But you have a limp," I pointed out, nodding at his leg. "Did you have that before?"

He shook his head. "The purple one came in shortly before the whole place went up, but on my way out another Boomer came along. Debris fell from the ceiling, and my leg got pinned. Just when I got the piece off my leg and I could drag myself out, everything just…disappeared. Everything turned white, and…" He shook his head again. "And that's the last I remember. I woke up in the hospital the next day, thinking…no, HOPING it was a dream, just like everyone else, I imagine."

"My daughter spent five days in a coma after that. A blessing in disguise, I guess," I said. "When she woke up, she didn't remember anything…another blessing. But she started remembering, and started having panic attacks right along with those memories coming back. She's doing better now…"

"I am so sorry about your daughter, Miss…Kiri. It wasn't my intention to have things turn out the way they did."

"…What do you mean?" I asked, faking ignorance.

"Miss Kiri, I was the one who hired the Knight Sabers."

"You?"

He nodded solemnly, putting his glass of merlot down before folding his hands together. "I am not a native of Japan, but even I know what the Knight Sabers represent to the lower-class people in Tokyo, the powerless ones. They represent what people would like to do: face down the big companies, stand up for the little man, take back their basic rights instead of living under a microscope. But who on earth can stand up to a company like Genom, which has its tentacles stretched out to every corner of the globe?"

"So why'd you hire them? Was it more of a gesture? Or was it…?"

"It wasn't just a gesture. It was symbolic, yes, but we in the summit believed the Knight Sabers shared a common goal with us: to rid the world of Boomers. They do good, yes…but technology isn't perfect, and that's what Boomers are: just machines, pieces of technology. And just like computers, they can be hacked into, get infected, but rather than freezing up, they go insane and destroy everything in their paths. What have we lost because of Boomers being introduced? We've lost countless jobs because of outsourcing to Boomers. Unemployment and poverty levels have gone up, while morale has crashed through the floor. Sure, if you're working for Genom, everything is looking bright, but for everyone else…"

"Did Genom know you hired them? I bet they weren't too thrilled with that," I mused, smirking.

"Oh no. The Old Man didn't even raise his voice when he came to visit me in the hospital. Not that you would know, but with people like him, hearing them stay calm is worse…much worse…than hearing them scream and throw a fit."

I grimaced in reminiscence; in the days after the summit, Quincy had gone around to the hospitals, offering 'comfort' to the survivors. I'd refused to have him see Yume or me. But now that I thought about it…he'd probably provided more than just verbal comfort…

"The 'Old Man,' as you call him…what did he say? I didn't feel up to a visit from him, so I turned it down."

"He didn't visit you?"

"Hell no."

"He said he was 'disappointed' in my decision, and questioned why I'd hired a bunch of renegades when I could have hired Army officers or some sort of people like that. He said that he would let the Knight Sabers take the blame for what happened instead of letting it fall on my shoulders. He said that he would offer me all the funds I need for projects around New York City and the state anytime I wanted… He also said that if I 'kindly turned down' his offer…that he would see that the city would never get any sort of funding again, and that I would disappear. I know he's made certain individuals disappear before, and I'm only human. Of course I didn't want to share that fate. So I agreed to his offer, bowed down like a dog at his feet."

"When it comes down to it…people have to look after themselves first," I said, trying to sound like I was in agreement, when inside, I was retching. This guy didn't even have the balls to stand up to the most powerful guy in the world! Sure, he was right there in front of him, but that would have been the perfect time to me! But I wasn't him, and though I had my own guilt from that time, he seemed to have a lot more of it. And no wonder.

"You just don't say no to the man!" he said, raising his voice in what I sensed was fear. "No matter what you think of him, when he makes you an offer like that…you can't say no! Would you rather let some band of women suffer, or let the whole city of New York suffer, for my decision? I would love to take the responsibility, but not at the cost of the city! Why do you think no one has sued over the whole fiasco? Mr. Quincy went to everyone and paid them off, right when they were most vulnerable! It's the perfect time to do it, before everything has settled, before everyone can think objectively about the situation."

"Did anyone refuse? I'm sure somebody…"

"I'm sure someone here or there did, but I wouldn't know. They probably disappeared so they couldn't voice any more objections. And you know…because I accepted the funding for whatever project I would need done…that he has increased the population of Boomers in NYC by 20 percent since the summit. Presumably to help out with those projects. But accepting the money meant accepting the influx of Boomers as well. It's a classic Catch-22. And there's nothing I can do about it now. Damn it." He banged his fist on his knee.

"I went by the site where the convention center used to be recently," I said. "And y'know what I saw? Construction Boomers. Yep, the place Boomers attacked is now going to be rebuilt by…Boomers. Like the irony of that?"

He smirked and shook his head. "Miss Kiri, any irony in this world is something I just don't find surprising anymore. Truth is stranger than fiction, they say. And you know if anyone were to start a 'Let's Take Down Genom' petition, they would eliminate every single person on that list, whether it be the average Joe or someone like yourself, an entertainer. Doesn't matter. I'm sure he'd start killing his own right-hand men if he suspected them of anything indecent."

"The common man is powerful in numbers. I wouldn't put anything past them."

"That's being naïve. Don't you think the common man would have brought down Hitler if they thought it was possible? No. They were too scared for their own hides, and like you said, when it comes down to it, people put themselves first."

"Then we just need more people like Schindler."

"Schindler himself would be scared out of his skin at the situation now. Sure, there aren't any death camps…at least that I know of. But…"

"We just have to find those who're like him. They're around. You just have to look. The Knight Sabers, they're the modern-day Schindlers. They're not hiding anybody, but they ARE protecting them…in plain view. And I bet Genom can't stand that."

"They can't stand that the Knight Sabers are still alive, either. They're not big in number, but their symbolism to the people is huge. And they don't want anything that gets the people's hopes up, oh no. And it may be naïve of me to think this, but…as long as they're still around, even I have hope."

"Sometimes that's the only thing that keeps people going…" I sighed.

"Why are you so interested in the Knight Sabers, if I may ask?" he suddenly inquired. Luckily I'd been prepared for the question, so it didn't throw me off.

I smiled and said, "I was a teenager, about my daughter's age now, when they started showing up in Tokyo. I admired what they did. And back then, I was one of those powerless, low-class people you talked about. Of course, I also figured there was no damn way they could possibly win, but the idea of them taking up the fight was still pretty cool. And seeing them reappear in '54 kinda brought those feelings back. I'm not powerless and low-class anymore, but those feelings are still there."

"I told you I saw the purple Knight Saber, but did you see any of them?" I shook my head.

"No. I heard the first explosions and tried to hide my daughter and me somewhere I thought was safe. Apparently wasn't safe enough…"

"Are you all right physically? Nothing bugging you?"

"Physically I'm fine. Mentally is none of your business. We're just doing our best to put it past us and get on with our lives. What about you, besides your limp, I mean?"

He smiled and gave a hearty shrug. "Keeping busy. That's the best I can do these days."

"With your ill-gotten money…"

"It benefits my city. I'm not using it for private purposes. I've rebuilt schools, financed welfare programs for the less-fortunate. This money is being used for good things! Even you wouldn't have turned down the amount of money he offered!"

"I don't need his money. I have enough to live comfortably the rest of my life; I wouldn't need his money to help me achieve that."

"Miss Kiri…" he said in a low voice, starting to sound just a little bit perturbed, "I would hate to think of what would have become of your daughter's recovery if the Old Man had visited and you had turned down his offer."

"Well, good thing I decided not to let him visit, then!" I shouted. "I'm not the type of person who can just get paid off. My standards are higher than that. As someone who wanted to keep the summit under top security, I would hope yours would have been, too. It wasn't their fault for not being able to stop the Boomers. It was your fault for being too lax! And you even let the Old Man pay you off to keep your name out of the dirt!"

"It wasn't my choice!!" he roared, jumping off the couch. "It wasn't my idea to hire them in the first place!"

"Idiot," I spat, getting off the couch to face him. "You just said it was!"

"He told me to!"

I could've sworn I almost swooned in shock for a moment. Quincy…had TOLD him to hire the Sabers? But why the hell… I shook my head in utter disbelief. This was getting stranger by the second.

"Wait…what you said earlier…about the Sabers being beacons of hope for the common people…was this just a way to get rid of them?"

He nodded, sweat beading on his forehead. He mopped at it with a handkerchief before saying, "The summit itself was not a setup. That was completely genuine. Everyone there was to have a serious discussion, so to speak, about the Boomer problem. He called me, me being the ambassador to Japan at the time, and he offered me money…lots of money…if I would hire the Knight Sabers. I didn't know what on earth he was planning, since I knew he despised them; he is…or was…the Genom CEO, after all. But once the Boomers attacked…I realized what I'd done. He'd conned me…so that he could kill the Knight Sabers on an international stage. But they lived. Apparently all five lived, for they appeared again after the summit. So he…came to me again, and said I would surely go down in ruins if what I'd done ever came to light. So he promised to cover it up for me, blame the Sabers for everything. On top of what he gave me earlier, he said he'd make all my wishes for the city come true for the rest of my life if I would just keep quiet. And so…here I am, hardly a better man for it."

"All that…just to get rid of five women?" I asked, trying to sound incredulous. On the inside, I was. I was fucking pissed off! I WAS one of those five women!! "That sounds kinda over the top just to get rid of them. All because they're symbols?"

"They're a threat, no matter how little. And the Old Man…likes to be thorough in weeding out any threat. The hundred-and-eight people dead…they weren't just collateral either. In my opinion, he didn't want to just get rid of the Knight Sabers, he also wanted to eliminate those who wanted to eliminate Boomers! A win-win situation for him…except the Sabers, of course, didn't die. That's the only problem with his plan."

"That's…just sick! Why aren't you coming out with this, screaming it to every paparazzo who'll listen?!" I demanded. "And I don't mean about the Sabers, though I feel for them too. I mean about the dead! They're the innocent ones! Everyone was innocent there!"

The politician…just sat down again and sipped his merlot. Upon setting down the now-empty glass, he put his head in his hands and murmured.

"I know…I'm a terrible person. I should burn in hell for not having the foresight to know what was going to happen."

"Well, now you have the foresight to know you're gonna suffer for the rest of YOUR life. I'd hate to be in your shoes now. But if you want me to feel sorry for you, I'll tell you that nobody is going to pity you. You'll be hunted down and shot, and that's IF they want to go easy on you."

"And I deserve it. Every bit of it. Go on. Lynch me."

I smirked and headed for the elevator. "I would if I had a rope with me. But unfortunately I left that at home. Maybe another time."

"Wait…Miss Kiri…"

"I had a lovely time. Next time I'll have to bring my daughter so you can tell your lovely story to her too. She loves stories, and she'll love the twist you put in there too. Great work there."

I adjusted my coat as the elevator descended to the main floor. This was some heavy shit the guy had just spilled. I didn't know exactly what kind of evidence Sylia and the others had gotten, but what I had was enough to bring the whole thing down. My heart was pounding as I exited the elevator and went back through the revolving doors, onto the open sidewalk. It wasn't even a minute before a yellow taxi pulled in front of me.

"Please, get in," the girl who climbed out of the back of the taxi said in English as she ushered me in. I smirked to myself; it was Linna this time. We both climbed in, and in an instant, we were going down the street.

"How was it?" Sylia asked, turning onto the next street.

"I got everything," I said, grinning as I pulled out the recorder from under my coat collar. "The son of a bitch spilled it all. He had a way bigger hand in this than even I thought. First he tried to make it seem like he hired us as a symbolic gesture, but then admitted Quincy got him to hire us so he could take us out with the whole world watching."

"We'll listen to it when we get back to the hotel," she said evenly, though in the rear mirror above the dashboard I could see her reflected face give off a frown.

"Where's Nene?"

"She's still at the studio. She'll arrive back shortly."

"I'm telling you, Sylia…with what this guy said, we won't even need the footage from the Boomer's head. We've got it locked."

"We'll see. Let's at least all listen to it again before we draw any conclusions."

I gave off a small shrug. "Ok. But can I take this crap off now?"

"Not yet. You can when we get back to the hotel. But for safety's sake, you should keep it on."

"Fine, ok." I scratched at the wig; it was starting to dig into my scalp.

"Is it really that good? The info you got?" Linna asked. "Did he actually say all that, or is that just what you inferred?"

"No, he really said it. He looks guilty as hell for doing it too. But with all the new Genom-provided padding in his pockets, he's not willing to pony up the truth to anyone."

"…Except you."

"Except me."

-----

Not a word was said the entire time the recorder played back the conversation between the politician and me. It felt like everyone was holding their breath, even though I'd already told them what the bastard had spilled. But this was momentous; Genom would be finished once this got out. I just knew it.

"That's…amazing," Nene breathed. "I don't know what else to say. It's…it's terrible, but it explains everything."

"There's still one thing that confuses me," I said. "Sylia, you said it was the government that hired us when we had that initial meeting about the job."

"A foreign ambassador is part of the government," Sylia replied. "Fargo only told me it was a member of the government who wanted to hire us; he did not specifically say it was the U.S. ambassador to Japan."

"Unusual oversight on his part."

"So what happens now?" Linna asked, standing up. "We need to take what we have to the U.N."

"As soon as I get it all organized," Sylia said. "I'll get that done tonight." She turned to me. "Excellent job, Priss. You did good."

"At least you let me have SOME part in this," I said wryly. "I was pissed at you, y'know."

"I know. But you understand why it had to work out the way it did."

"Yeah, yeah."

"So what about your album?" Nene chirped as I took off my coat and threw it over the back of the couch. "How's that going?"

"We've got most of the songs done. The band and I still need to head to two more cities before we're scheduled to get back to Tokyo. I didn't know how long it would take for you guys to get what we needed, so…" Suddenly I remembered something. "Oh! You cleaned up the studio, right? It wasn't bugged, was it?"

"No. I didn't find anything. Lucky, too, because I was almost certain I'd find all sorts of wires and stuff. But I didn't come across anything like that. Just the usual music-recording equipment."

"Good."

"Don't you need to head back to your hotel room? So Max and Hiroshi don't worry?"

"They don't worry about me," I snickered. "They know better. I'm a big girl."

"Still…given what happened in February…"

"They don't know anything happened in February. How the hell do you think I'd explain a stab wound like that to them? Simple: I don't."

Nene turned for a moment to look in Sylia's direction as she picked up an incoming call. "Somebody needs to worry about you. May as well be us." Her face fell as she saw the expression appear on Sylia's face. "Uh…Sylia?"

"Somethin' wrong?" I asked.

Sylia pressed a button, putting whoever was calling on the speaker. "Tell them, Mackie."

"Uh, hey guys," we heard Mackie say over the speaker. "Sis was just telling me about what you found out tonight. But I have some other news too."

"What?" Linna asked. "Did they find out the automated hardsuits aren't really us?"

"No, no, it's not that. They're working beautifully. But turning in the evidence to the U.N. is gonna have to wait. We've got a bigger pressing issue here."

"Like what?" I demanded.

"They know Yumeko's in the U.S. They've found her."

-----

It's amazing what people can remember when they've been away from a place for so long. In Xania's case, it had been almost nine years since she'd been taken out of her home, and yet once we started wandering the town, she knew exactly where to go. She was like a dog or something, looking around at everything to be sure this was where we had to go.

The house itself wasn't anything special; it was a two-story house on a cul-de-sac, peeling white paint evident even from down the street. The lawn was dead, the windows were cracked, with parts of the glass missing, probably from kids throwing rocks at them, with a small wooden fence surrounding the property. While Xania went inside to take a look around – "Don't come with me. This is somethin' I gotta do myself," she'd said – I stood up on the top of one of the wooden posts and started walking down the wooden fence like I was on a balance beam, only balance beams weren't nearly this wobbly. I could feel the wood crunch beneath my feet too; it was partly rotted. I held out my arms to my sides so as to keep my balance as I walked to one end of the fence, then turned the corner and headed down another part of it, until I'd made my way around the perimeter of the property.

I jumped down from the fence when I heard Xania come out the front door. I blinked when I saw she was carrying a saucepan in one hand. "What's with that?" I asked.

"It's funny," she said in a shaky voice. "This thing always looked a lot bigger to me. Mom and Dad always told me never to touch it, never to lean over it so I wouldn't singe my hair or let it dangle in their 'candy.' This is…this is just so…fuckin' anticlimactic. I was hopin' I'd see a lot o' shit still in there, but I guess the cops took it away. My bedroom's empty. The whole place is empty 'cept for the couch and a few appliances that the spiders've taken over. But this was still here. This piece of shit pot was still in there, right in its usual spot."

"What're you gonna do? I know you, you're not gonna take it with you back to Sacramento."

"Hell no. You know what I'm gonna do?" She turned towards the house. "HERE is what I'm gonna do!!" She let out a scream and tossed the pot right through the living room window, sending it shattering into a million pieces when the pot made contact.

"FUCK YOU!!!" she screamed. "I'm not scared anymore!! Bridget Randall is NOT scared anymore! You can all go to hell for all I care!!"

"…Randall?"

She flushed. "It was my…my real last name," she said, stammering. "Before Mom took me in and I got her Peters name. C'mon, doesn't Xania Peters sound better than Bridget Randall?"

"Yeah, but that's the only name I've known you by. Just like I suppose the name Yumeko doesn't look like it suits me, only because you've known me as Rocío."

"I guess that's true…"

I looked at the broken window. "I thought you'd have been more angry than that. Aren't you still gonna tear the place apart?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "It's alright. There's nothin' to trash in there anyway. It's…it's the place I grew up in, but…it's weird, but…it doesn't feel like it either. There's…nothin' here to hurt me. Usually I'd stand here and be scared to go inside, knowin' my parents and their meth friends would be in there. But…I'm not scared standin' here now."

I smiled. "That's good to know. See? It probably was a good thing you changed your mind about not seeing your old home."

"Y-yeah…maybe it was…" Her tail started to wag a little bit. "That…that did feel kinda good." She turned to me. "We could do the same thing for you! Go to that convention center so YOU can throw shit at it and curse it out!! I bet YOU'D feel better!!"

I blanched. "Um…aside from the fact the center is gone…I…I don't think so. What happened to you was nine years ago. Mine was more recent. I'm not…well…maybe when I'm ready, but…not…not anytime soon."

Xania flashed her cocky grin at me again. "Ok, ok, I ain't gonna push it. But when you're back in Tokyo and you decide to go…call me up, ok? I'll fly out and we can go there together, whether it's just a patch of dirt or whatever."

"You think I'll be able to go back to Tokyo?"

"Sure! Why not? It's your home. You swore you'd never call Irodia's place your home…but you gotta have somewhere to call home."

"I dunno…" I pointed at the sunset on the horizon. The yellow ball hung low in the sky, making the entire sky a brilliant orange. The trees, the grass, the sand dunes in the distance…they all appeared orange, an effect from the sun that I was sure I would only see here, in this spot. The air near the ground appeared wavy, an effect of the heat in spite of it only being spring. "I feel pretty at home here, just standing here with a friend."

She grabbed me and gave me a bear hug, giggling. "You're getting sentimental on me!! How cute!"

I laughed. "During our last conversation, Michiko and I saw a sunset just like this. It makes me…nostalgic, but in a good way. It's a good memory." I twirled the necklace around my neck. "It's…it's a good memory…"

"I'm ready to get outta here, aren't you?"

"Yup! We're just at the border, so in another ten minutes it'll be hello to Arizona! And I bet by tomorrow we could be at the Grand Canyon! But that's if we hurry. I don't want us driving in the dark for too long; it's not gonna be light for much longer."

"Ok! Let's get a move-on then!" she hollered as she pulled on her helmet, which I'd just handed to her. Once I pulled on mine, we both got on my bike and took off. It wasn't two minutes later that we were gleefully saying goodbye to Needles. What a tempestuous couple days we had spent here. Karaoke, Xania finally coming to terms with her past…and me coming to terms with the issue of alcohol, if it could be called that. Xania realized it was more her memories scaring her than the actual place itself, and I'd learned it was more the fear of being taken advantage of again for me than the issue of beer itself. I guessed I could handle alcohol alright…as long as I had someone to watch my back. And Xania had just needed someone to watch hers today, to make sure she would be alright when she finally came face-to-face with her childhood home.

"Should we go out for a drink when we stop for the night?" I joked.

"What?! You serious? I thought you didn't wanna do it anymore after last night!"

"…I changed my mind. It's actually kinda fun, especially with karaoke."

"Ha!! I think I've been a bad influence on you!"

"I think beer is ok, just as long as no guys try to touch me. Then they'll be singing soprano. But a girls' night out is alright, isn't it? We just can't overdo it."

"By we, you must mean me."

"Oh, you caught on."

"You suck."

"I know."

True to prediction, the 'Welcome to Arizona' sign came up in our sights in a matter of minutes. We both let out a loud hoot as we crossed the sign and officially exited California. We were this much closer to the Grand Canyon. I couldn't believe how excited I was for this. This really WAS a great idea, going on a road trip! I wished I'd done this more often before, not that I would've had much of a chance, but the idea itself would've been nice. Maybe I'd go explore the Japanese countryside sometime, or hike through Hokkaido, or climb Mt. Fuji, or any of those stereotypical things a person wanting to explore parts of their own country they'd never seen before would want to do.

Now THIS was living.

-----

By the time the sunset was fading to dusk, Xania and I were coming upon a tiny little town that didn't seem to serve as anything more than a rest stop. We saw a couple restaurants, a gas station with a convenience store, a small motel…and that was about it. It was even smaller than Needles, which wouldn't exactly have been easy to pull off. My stomach grumbled on cue, and Xania seemed to getting a little antsy too.

"I'm starvin'," she said out loud, taking off her helmet as we pulled over in front of the convenience store.

"I know, I am too. Let's go in and grab something."

After I took off my helmet as well, we both headed inside and looked around for any little snacks that might satisfy us for the time being. I grabbed a bottle of water and a protein bar, and was checking out the selection of baked potato chips when Xania, her arms full of junk food, looked out the doors of the store and squealed.

"Hey look, Rosho! It's those guys!"

"Who?"

"The ones from the bar! That's weird!"

"They DID say they were heading out East on a business trip," I pointed out.

"I didn't catch that part."

"That's because you were too busy arguing with Jill."

"Oh, stuff it," she said, dropping her stuff into the basket I was carrying. "Can you go ahead and get that stuff for me? I'm gonna go say hello!"

"Um, sure," I said, but she was out the door before I could even finish saying 'um.' I shrugged and continued to look at the chips. How typical of her to check out guys, although her looking at older guys like that seemed unusual. Of course, I didn't really know what kinds of guys she'd dated in the past, and frankly, I wasn't that curious. To each his, or her, own, I guess. But still, I would've thought it more than disturbing to date a guy who could've been old enough to be my dad.

My dad…what was he like anyway? Beyond knowing he was a pretentious bastard who'd impregnated my mom in an alley after stabbing her and beating her to a pulp, I didn't really care. Was he young, was he by now an old fart in a nursing home, I just didn't care.

"Eh, may as well," I finally decided, settling on a bag of Baked Lay's. I dropped it into the basket on top of Xania's junk food, then hauled the basket over to the clerk to pay for it.

"Must be hungry," the clerk laughed as he rang up the candy and other things Xania had grabbed.

"It's not all for me. My friend's just hungry."

"Must be. Must have a sweet tooth too."

"Oh, you have no idea." I looked at the total on the screen. "Twenty bucks? What the hell did she grab?! …Geez, whatever." I handed him the cash.

"Have a good night," he said, handing me my bag.

"Thanks, you too," I said, refraining from bowing in response. It was so natural to me back in Tokyo that I'd accidentally found myself doing it several times here, but thankfully no one really seemed to notice.

I went outside, bag in hand, expecting Xania to be out there flirting with the two guys, but she was nowhere in sight. "Xania?" I called out. "C'mon, I got our stuff. Let's eat it and get going. It's almost dark."

No response.

"Xania, c'mon, I'm done."

Down the street I heard a scream. A girl's scream. I snapped my head in that direction and saw the two guys from last night, and they were stuffing something into the trunk of their car. My friend.

"ROSHO!!" she screamed as they slammed the trunk shut. The two guys ran up and threw themselves back into the car. One of them, the guy getting into the passenger-side door, the shorter one of the two, stopped and looked at me.

"Hehe…nice to see you again."

"Wait a sec!!" I yelled, running towards the car.

"You want her back, Asagiri? Come get her!!" He jumped into the car, and it sped right past me just as I had run up to it. I slammed my fist into the side as it drove by.

"…Asagiri?" I suddenly realized; had he said Asagiri? "…SHIT!"

I threw down the bag of snacks and got on my bike, revving it up before peeling out and racing down the street, right after that black car. What was going on? They knew my real name…and now they were taking Xania. I didn't have time to think about that at the moment; right now I knew I just had to get Xania back before something bad happened.

I quickly caught up to the black car. Pulling my gun out of my jacket pocket, I steered the bike with one hand while taking aim with the other. I fired several shots, two of them hitting the back windshield, one missing entirely. The windshield didn't even crack, though, only leaving two white marks where the bullets had struck. It was bulletproof.

"Shit," I cursed. "Alright then…" Time for another plan…

Instead of tailing behind them, I sped up and pulled up right alongside them. Putting the gun in my other hand, I took aim at the passenger-side window. "Give her back!!" I demanded. "You know I'll shoot!!"

The window lowered, revealing one of the two men, the same one who had taunted me. "Now now, you know kids shouldn't play with guns. They could get hurt." He took aim at me with his own pistol. "So could you."

I gasped and screeched the bike to a halt at the same time the guy fired. I felt a bullet whiz by the side of my head, and as the bike stopped, I let out a breath and put a hand to my temple. It was bleeding, the blood running down the side of my face. Too close. I took a look at my shaking hand, blood on the fingers, and cursed again. I started up the bike again and took off after them a second time. The one time I wasn't wearing my helmet on my bike, and I'd been shot at! I wasn't even sure if the helmet would've stopped the bullet even if I had been wearing it; it wasn't exactly made of the same bullet-deflecting material hardsuits were made of.

Again, it wasn't long before I caught up to the car. That was stupid of me to go right up beside the car, making myself a target. That wouldn't happen again. This time, I took aim at the tires and fired several shots, missing again. I fired once more, this time popping the rear left tire, but instead of slowing down like I'd hoped, the car made a sharp left turn and went driving off right into the sands of the desert. My own tires squealed as I made the same abrupt left turn and followed right after it.

Both the car and I had to weave our way through various kinds of cacti as the chase continued through the desert, but me being on my bike made it easier to do so. I fired again, this time at the rear right tire, but again I missed, the bullet instead going right into the sand. _Screw that,_ I thought. The thought came to me that I might have an advantage if they couldn't see me, so I started shooting at the rear view mirrors, but with the car weaving like it was, I couldn't get a clear shot, so I missed. The car made a sudden turn to the right, going up a sand dune. I followed in hot pursuit, going so fast that when I reached the top of the dune and started going down the other side, my bike was practically flying. I gulped and braced myself for a hard landing.

The bike landed hard on the sand, but at the same time, I could feel it was going to overturn. I jumped off the bike and rolled onto the sand as my bike went without a driver for another twenty feet before finally overturning and coming to a rest on its side. I coughed and pushed myself up to my feet, dusting off my clothes, the wound on my temple starting to burn, cursing again to myself as the car got farther into the distance.

"Sons of bitches!" I swore as I ran over to my bike to right it. But then, the unbelievable happened. Just as the car was about to get out of sight, it suddenly slowed down, backed up, and turned around. And at full speed, it came barreling right towards me.

"Oh shit!!"

There was no time to right my bike. I took off like a shot, leaving it behind as the car rapidly approached from behind, even mowing down the smaller cacti in its way. I could hear the driver laughing.

"Yeah, run as fast as you can, Yumeko!!" he mocked. "We don't want you to get hurt!"

I fired off a shot in response, the bullet bouncing off the front windshield. I started running again, the car practically on my heels now. In front of me was a grouping of large cacti, and I ran into the thick of it, attempting to hide from them. The driver, knowing he couldn't get through the cacti, pulled to a stop.

"Leave Xania out of this!!" I yelled from behind a cactus that was even taller than I was. "She's got nothing to do with this!"

"If you want her back, come get her!" he said, laughing while I reloaded my gun; I'd already emptied the whole clip. "Of course, if you don't get run over trying!"

_There's an idea,_ I thought. Instead of sticking around to talk, I started running again, through the cacti until I came to a clearing. The car drove around the grouping and came after me again. By now, though, my legs were starting to ache with the effort; it was like they were sinking right into the sand, making it much harder to run. _They couldn't have just stuck to the asphalt, huh?!,_ I thought dryly. This wasn't going to end well if I just kept running. There had to be a way to end this without getting Xania hurt or me killed!

Ironically enough, my idea involved what the guy had just said. I just had to do it in a way that would result in me still being able to get away in the end. But how…?

I looked around me as I ran. So many cacti. The fact that the guys were driving around them made me realize they must be sturdy enough to be able to take a hit. That was it. I almost chuckled to myself at the stupidity of what I was about to do, but it was the only way I saw out of this. I stopped for a second, took a breath, and took off running again, this time directly towards one of the large cacti. Behind me I could hear the car speed up, as if it was looking forward to pinning me against the cactus. But if I timed this right, that wouldn't happen.

With a final burst of speed, I went for the cactus, and once I got to it, I jumped, pushing off of the cactus. The crunch beneath me when I felt myself land on something hard shoulder-first told me I'd landed right on the car's windshield, but just as fast, I bounced right off of it, the much louder sound of the car smashing into something ringing in my ears as I landed on the sand with a thud, the wind knocked out of me from the impact.

I coughed hard and sat up, holding my left shoulder and wincing as I turned to the left to look at the car. Sure enough, it had crashed right into the cactus. The cactus was completely smashed up, looking like it was about to fall over, and the front of the car was in a similar state. I had no time to celebrate, though; I had to finish them off, make sure they weren't gonna burst out of their skin and come after me. I knew a mere car wreck wouldn't be enough to do the job. My shoulder throbbed as I pulled out one of my grenades and attached it to the barrel of the gun. I grimaced at the memory of when I'd first got the gun; for some reason I'd managed to have Bert throw in two of them as a freebie. Why had I asked for them? It didn't matter now, 'cause now I needed them; maybe something inside me at the time had told me I'd need them in the future. Maybe I was paranoid. But again, it didn't matter now.

I took aim at the front of the car and fired. In an instant, the whole front of the car jumped at the impact, followed by a loud boom and a fireball flying into the sky above. Several pieces of burning debris came flying past me, and I put my arms out in front of me to shield myself. Once the debris was done flying, I pushed myself to my feet, stumbling and letting out a groan as I grabbed my side. "Real smart, that," I spat out to myself.

With some effort, I managed to shuffle myself over to the trunk, which looked intact, especially compared to the rest of the car. "Xania!" I yelled, banging my fist on the left side. "Get over to this side!"

"Rosho?!" she exclaimed. "Get me outta here!! What the fuck just happened?!"

"I let them hit me to make them crash," I said. "Now get over to this side. I'm gonna shoot the lock."

"You did WHAT?!?"

"Shut up and get over to this side!" I fired at the lock once, then several more times for good measure. Banging on the top with my fist for a moment to make sure it was broken, I opened up the trunk, revealing Xania curled up on the left side, looking roughed up and with her shades broken, but otherwise no worse for wear.

She jumped out and grabbed me, making me cry out. "Rosho!! Oh God! What happened?! What'd they do that for?! Why'd you let yourself get hit?!"

"Uh, they grabbed you, and I jumped off a cactus and onto their windshield to surprise 'em and to make 'em crash."

"Couldn't you have just jumped from the thing to the side or somethin' instead of getting fuckin' hit by a car?!"

"Now that you mention it…" I winced again. "Maybe. But I didn't have time to think it over. I just acted. And you're ok. Right?"

"Y-yeah, I guess. But you look like shit." She gasped and pointed to the side of my head. "You're bleeding!"

"I know, one of the guys almost shot me. But I lucked out. Let's get out of here before somebody notices I blew up the car."

"…Is that what that last noise was?! You tried to blow me up?!" she screamed.

"No," I said flatly. "Just them. Now let's go."

She tossed off her broken shades, cursing again, and followed me to where I pointed out my bike had overturned. We didn't get very far, though, before I noticed some gunshots ringing out from where the car was. I shook my head and ignored it; I figured the heat of the explosion was making one of the guns go off. When I felt something fly by my head, however, I knew that wasn't the case. I just started to turn around when I felt another bullet whiz by me, this time right by my back. I jumped to the sand, hissing through my teeth as my back started to burn the same way my temple was. Xania yelped when she saw me jump to the sand, and was about to do the same thing, but instead, she ended up screaming, jumping about a foot in the air, and grabbing her butt, dropping to her knees.

"Ow! SHIT! He shot me!! My tail! Ow!!"

She put her head to the sand, cursing like a sailor while I rolled onto my side to see what was happening. One of them had lived! He was standing behind the car, one of his legs bloody from what I could see, making it impossible for him to pursue us, but that didn't mean he couldn't shoot at us. I growled.

"You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me," I seethed, pulling out my gun again along with the other grenade I had. "You mean one grenade didn't do it?"

The guy stopped to reload his gun, but I wasn't going to give him the opportunity to do so. One eye shut, I aimed at the car again, as close to the guy as I could, and fired my remaining grenade. He disappeared as the car jumped and exploded again, sending more fireballs into the air, and again, I put my arms in front of me to shield myself from the flying metal and other debris.

Once I had my hearing back again, I could make out Xania whining, and I crawled over to her to take a look. I grimaced and understood exactly why she was whining now as I saw her wound; the bullet had managed to hit her at the base of her tail. It was bleeding – or whatever other fluids come out of a cybernetic limb; leaking, maybe? – and her tail was only half-attached now. Most of the butt of her shorts was soaked.

"It's…not that bad," I tried to assure her. "C'mon, I didn't yell that much when I got shot in the shoulder."

"This is my tail, Rosho!!" she snapped, her face streaked with tears. "It's sensitive as it is! Gettin' shot…SHIT! It hurts!!"

"I know, I know." I looked back at the car. "Stay here, ok?"

"Where ya goin'?"

"I'm gonna make sure we don't get any more surprises from those guys."

Xania yelled in protest as I limped over to the remains of the car. I didn't hear any more gunshots, thankfully, nor of any growling, as I would've expected from a pair of Boomers. I got over to the front of the car, where the second guy had been shooting from, and the sight was terrible: his right arm and shoulder were completely blown apart from the rest of his body, leaving a meaty hunk of flesh where it had used to be. His left leg was gone from the knee down. His eyes and mouth were wide open, as if he'd died in the middle of screaming. He was a Boomer, so…why was I feeling so sick all of a sudden? And then it clicked; I didn't smell any burnt circuitry like I might have normally. I smelled…something different, like how my finger would smell if I'd burnt it on a stove.

Burnt flesh.

I gasped and looked inside the car, where the other guy was. His body was in a similar state, only more charred…and even less of it left. I turned away and threw up right there on the sand, falling to my hands and knees, retching. What had I done?! They…they weren't Boomers…

"Are they fucked up?!" Xania yelled from her spot on the sand.

"Y-yeah…" I said to myself low enough so that she couldn't hear. "They're…" I stood up, only to retch and throw up again. Oh God…I had done that. I'd mangled them. I'd…killed them. If they were Boomers it wouldn't have been a big deal. I'd naturally assumed they were Boomers; I'd never had humans sent after me before. But…they WERE human. And I'd…

I wiped my mouth and went back over to Xania, helping her to her feet. She cried out and grabbed onto me for support, her legs wobbling. "Ow, ow! Are they dead? Tell me!"

"They're dead," I said quickly.

"Good! They deserved it!"

"Xania, they were human!"

"Duh!"

"I thought they were Boomers!!"

"…You did?" She winced as we walked around several cacti on our way back to my bike. "What made you think that?"

"I always get Boomers sent after me! Never actual people! …Shit!" I felt nauseous again, but tried to push the feeling down. "We gotta get out of here. We gotta go."

"Wait, you mean—"

"Here!" I thrust her helmet into her hands. "Let's go!"

"Rosho, my tail hurts! Bein' on your bike's gonna make it worse. Flappin' around an' all…"

"So wrap it around your waist."

"I can't, dammit! It hurts!"

I sighed and bent down, taking the end in my hands. "I'll put part of it through one of the belt loops on your shorts. That might make it easier to handle." I did so, and Xania gritted her teeth and banged her palm on the bike several times to keep from crying out. "There."

"Uh…t-thanks."

I examined her tail again. "I need to tie something around this to stop the bleeding. Hold on." After righting the bike, I took out my bag, and after digging around, pulled out my nightshirt. Ripping off one of the sleeves, I managed to tie it around the base of her tail and cover the wound. "I dunno if that'll hold. But it'll have to do."

"Where do we go now?"

"…I have no idea," I admitted. "Let's just go and keep driving until we find a place that won't ask questions."

I climbed onto the bike, wincing again as my shoulder and side started to throb. Xania got on behind me after a bit of effort, but once she did, she clung onto me for dear life. As I started it up and pulled on my helmet, she felt the need to say something else.

"…Thanks, Rosho. You saved me."

"Don't mention it," I said. "Now let's just get somewhere so we can rest for a while, ok?"

"S-sounds good…" She sounded pained.

"It'll be ok…I promise…"

I'd said it more for my own sake than for hers, and as we drove through the sandy desert and back onto the main road, I couldn't help but feel sick to my stomach again. Yes, they had been trying to capture us – dead or alive, it seemed like – but for me to have to kill them to get away…ugh. I almost retched again, but quashed that feeling as I tried to stay focused on the road.

Asagiri…the one guy had called me by my last name, and the other guy had yelled out my first name as he taunted me while chasing me. How the hell had they found out? I knew they were Genom cronies, but…how had Genom found out where I was? Had I slipped up somewhere? What the hell was going on?


	4. Cornered

Our road trip had never been so quiet as it was for those two hours we drove after the incident with the two men. I suppose it was a mutual understanding of sorts; what did we really need to discuss about that? We both were there. We were both hurt and exhausted. To try to take my thoughts off of what had just happened, I gazed at the horizon. The sky was pitch-black, and given that we were away from any big-city smog, the stars seemed to be dazzling. They were a nice distraction, but maybe too much of one, for I almost veered off the road several times as I zoned out, having let myself get entranced by them.

"Xania…we're gonna have to stop at the next town," I said wearily. "I'm starting to nod off, and we're almost out of gas."

"Ok…" she said, sounding like she was almost asleep herself. "Rosho?"

"Yeah?"

"What're we gonna do?"

"I don't know…for now, I guess we'll stay a night in a motel first, and figure things out from there."

"So much for the Grand Canyon, huh?"

"Heh…yeah…too bad…I was looking forward to it, too…"

"How do you say 'I was looking forward to seeing the Grand Canyon' in Japanese?"

"…What?!" I exclaimed in surprise. "Why do you want a lesson in that NOW?"

"Somethin' to take my mind off of this shit."

"Ok, I guess that's a good reason. It's _Gurando Kyanion o miru no wa tanoshimi ni shiteta'n da_."

"What about 'spring break'?"

"_Haruyasumi_."

"What about 'my tail fuckin' hurts'?"

"_Shippo ga…_ Hey!"

"Well, it does!"

"I know. I'll take care of that once we…ow…" I slowed the bike to a stop and grabbed my side, gritting my teeth. I hoped to God I didn't have any broken ribs. It didn't seem to feel like it at the moment, but once the adrenaline rush wore off I'd know for sure…

"Rosho…you ok?"

"Damn it…yeah…I'm fine. I just bruised a few ribs." I climbed off the bike and crouched on the side of the road for a moment to catch my breath. This didn't seem real…none of it did. I hadn't just used gun grenades for only the second time. I hadn't just used them to kill two people; Genom cronies, but still people. I hadn't just put Xania right in the line of fire.

"I'm sorry…for all of this," I said hoarsely, standing up, turning to look at her.

Xania remained perched on my bike, her expression not changing an iota. "Why are you sorry?"

"I sort of figured they might find me sooner or later…but I didn't think they'd use you as a pawn."

"But you got me out of it."

"Still…it's me they're after. Not you. It'd be fine if they'd just left you out of it. But…"

"Not like it matters now." She pointed down the road. "I think I see some lights down there. I bet there's a motel where those lights're at."

"I hope so." I climbed back onto the bike, wincing again as my side throbbed lightly. "Just a little further…"

It was another few minutes before we reached the lights Xania had pointed at. It was another tiny little town, similar to the one we'd been at a couple hours ago. Nothing seemed to look too suspicious to me, but at the moment, I just wanted to lay down and get some rest; I didn't want to think about anything anymore. Fortunately there was a motel, and I pulled into the parking spot closest to the check-in office. I helped Xania off the bike, and held one of her arms around my shoulders to support her as we headed in.

The guy at the desk raised his eyebrow at the sight of us. "Little accident?"

"Wiped out on my bike," I said. "Just need to check in for the night."

He seemed to be content with that answer, and after I paid for our room for the night, I asked to borrow his first-aid kit if he had one. He did, and he lent it to us, saying for us to keep it as long as we needed. So with first-aid kit in hand, bag on my shoulder, and Xania leaning on my other shoulder, I headed for the stairs and went up to the third floor, which I inwardly cursed; why hadn't I asked for the first floor? I didn't feel like going up any damn stairs right now! Couldn't help it now, but as I went up to that floor, Xania expressed the discontent that I was feeling.

"Third floor? Shit. I can barely walk, and he makes us take a room on the third floor…" she groaned.

Nothing else was said until we reached room 301, the room assigned to us. Once I unlocked the door, I helped Xania inside and sat her down on the bed closest to the window. She shuddered.

"Owowow…"

"I know, I know. Lay down on your stomach," I instructed. "I need to take a better look at your tail."

Once she did so, I took her tail out of the belt loop I'd strung it through and untied the makeshift bandage from around its base. The wound was still seeping a little bit, but the bleeding – leaking? – had largely stopped. I wished I could've asked her to take off her shorts so her tail wouldn't be encumbered, but I knew that would be asking a lot of her right now.

"Xania…I don't know how to fix your tail," I sighed. "It's half-amputated. And who would I call anyway? A doctor or a mechanic?"

"Don't worry about it," she said tiredly. "It'll…it'll heal up."

"I'm not so sure…"

"It'll close up by itself."

_You mean like Boomers healing themselves?,_ I thought sarcastically. "But…how long does that take?"

"Honestly, I dunno. The docs who put it on me said depending on the wound, it can take anywhere from a couple hours to three or four days."

"Amazing how far cybernetics have come…"

"Still hurts like a son of a bitch though!!" she yelled out, grimacing.

"I know, I know. I keep wondering though…is it leaking, or bleeding?"

Xania managed to smirk, despite her pain. "That thing can use real blood, doesn't need oil. So yeah, it's…bleeding."

"I need to get to it better." I dug around in the first-aid kit for a pair of gauze scissors, and sure enough, I found a pair. "I'm gonna cut away some of the shorts, ok?"

"Ok…"

I snipped away most of the back of her shorts, tossing the part I'd cut away aside while I cleaned up around the wound with some peroxide. Xania cried out and banged her limbs against the bed like a little kid, but I didn't flinch as I took a section of bandage and wrapped it around her tail.

"I wasn't sure how tight to wrap it…" I admitted. "But I figured I should at least cover it up while it repairs itself…"

"T-thanks…" she said weakly. "Oww…God dammit…"

"I know, I know…"

"Back there on the road…I was gonna say somethin'…"

"Like what?"

"I was gonna say…that I've gained a whole new respect for Michiko now."

"W…what?" I gasped.

"I think she knew what she'd gotten into when she learned you were a Knight Saber. And she…she didn't care either way. When the time came that she'd have to protect you, she did. And I'm proud of her. I gotta admit, it takes some guts to do that."

"X-Xania…"

"Rosho, listen. I think it was better that I was out here with you 'stead of ya bein' out here by yourself. At least you have somebody to watch your back."

"They didn't have to involve you! They could've just walked right past you, come into that convenience store, and blown me away!" I protested.

She grimaced again. "But they didn't. I walked up to 'em to say hi, and they asked how my friend Yumeko was doing. I started sayin' 'Oh, she's fine,' then realized they'd called you by your real name. I tried to yell for ya, but…they grabbed me…"

"Don't talk anymore…" I said, shushing her. "You did enough."

"They were so much fun at that bar the other night!" she cried. "How'd they turn out to be some kid-chasing mother-fuckers, huh?!"

"Don't think about it." I took my bottle of hydromorphone out of my bag. "Here. I have something that'll help with the pain. It'll help you sleep through the night."

"What is it?"

I filled up the dropper halfway. "Just some stuff I take occasionally for my leg. Open up." She opened her mouth, and I squirted the pink liquid in. She swallowed, a bitter look on her face. "There. You'll feel better soon."

"Rosho…it was pink. Was that morphine?"

"Something like it, yeah. …How'd you know?"

"I told you…hospitals. My parents…they…they were in and out of 'em every now and then. Remember how I said I hated hospitals?"

"Yeah. I was surprised that you knew what a morphine pump was when we went to visit Sara after her accident."

"Well…there was one time…when they were high, and they ended up in a traffic accident. Stupid fuckers drove high. Stupid. Anyway…" Her eyelids started to droop. "They…were in the hospital for a few days, and Dad discovered the good ol' morphine pump. Drove the docs crazy when he asked 'em to up the max amount he could pump himself with in one hour."

"But wouldn't they have tested positive for meth when they first went in?" I inquired.

"Sure. But I dunno the details. But on the last day, when he got discharged, he asked for a prescription for morphine…begged, pleaded. Docs said no. Dad went ballistic. He attacked the doctors, threw shit everywhere, almost hit me in the head with a bedpan. I felt sorry for him, 'cause I felt like if they just gave him what he wanted he'd be happy and we could go home. But…"

"So that's why you don't like hospitals?"

"Uh-huh…don't like doctors either. Ever since then, I've learned not to trust 'em."

"Well…sometimes they don't listen," I admitted. "But I think we've all dealt with doctors who don't listen."

"Yeah…I guess…"

I stayed with her until she finally nodded off, utterly exhausted. I felt the same way, but at the same time, my nerves were shot. Sure, those two guys were out of the way now, but I knew better than to think that'd be the end of it. It was only a matter of time before the other Genom people would get wind of what happened. I knew we had to keep moving, not give them a chance to catch up, but Xania was in no condition to go anywhere, and even I would've had to rest eventually.

I got off and gingerly took off my jacket and shirt, wincing when I had to peel the shirt off my back; blood from my wound there had made it stick to my skin. Topless, I walked into the bathroom and took a look in the mirror. The graze wound sort of reminded me of road rash, as did the one on my temple, once I washed the blood from the side of my face. I'd already been shot twice, and in one night I almost got shot a third and fourth time. Hell, it was the second and third times I'd had graze wounds, the first being thanks to Boh and a sneeze! Where was this kind of luck coming from? How had I cut it close twice?

Even my getting hit by the car was luck. If I'd jumped off the cactus a fraction of a second earlier, I would've hit the grill of the car and ended up under the tires. Any later and the car could very well have crushed me against that cactus along with its front end. I tried to put that out of my mind as I took off the rest of my clothes and stepped into the shower to rinse myself off, get rid of all the dirt and sand and dried blood that stuck to me.

What dumb luck! I'd even gotten those grenades from Bert 'just to be on the safe side,' and lo and behold, they were instrumental in saving my, and Xania's, life. If I hadn't had them, I might have just had to resort to an old-fashioned gun battle. I shuddered at the thought of how that might have ended up. I was decent with a gun, but whether I'd be able to stay calm under fire like that was a different matter. I thought back to the first time I used a gun grenade, when a Boomer had gone stomping through Linna's apartment complex. I'd gone outside to face it myself, hoping to hold it off until the Knight Sabers arrived. I'd fired the grenade at it even as it was firing at me. I chuckled lightly at the memory. How stupid had that been?! I'd tried to plead my case to Sylia, even as I held my bloodied shoulder, but she wouldn't hear of it. The others rode my ass for a while after that, too. In hindsight I knew it was stupid, but would I do the same thing now? Sure I would.

Oh wait…I just had.

But my opponents weren't Boomers. At least, I didn't know that until I saw their mangled corpses. But still…I knew if given the chance, they would've killed me. I was defending myself, so it was ok…

…But I sure didn't feel that way.

I felt like a monster, somehow.

I felt nauseous as I recalled other moments, other pivotal moments. As he was stabbing me, I'd put my gun in Boh's face, perfectly willing to blow his face off. But at the time, I hadn't known he was a Boomer, not until he mangled the gun by slapping it out of my hand. And at Genom Tower…I'd blown away Quincy's face, also believing he was human. But after I saw the remnants of his head, I learned he was a copy of the real Quincy.

It made me sick. I WAS capable of killing all along! It didn't matter if I didn't know if they were human or Boomer – I was willing to take lives. What the hell was I? But if they HAD been human…how would I have felt?

I would've felt relieved. I knew that right away. I HAD felt relieved in the moments after I 'killed' Quincy, and part of me felt a sick glee in the thought that Boh could be rebuilt, and I could kill him over and over again. It would be ok; he was only a Boomer, after all.

I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off, taking care not to go over my back too hard. Putting on a fresh pair of panties, I walked over to the first-aid kit and took out an Ace bandage. I winced as I wrapped it around my ribs, knowing it would have to be uncomfortably tight in order to bind them correctly. Securing the bandage, I took out a band-aid and put it over the wound on my temple. I couldn't reach the one on my back, so I left it uncovered.

I pulled my nightshirt over my head, the one with the missing sleeve, and sat on the other bed, watching Xania as she slept. I put my back against the headboard, taking my gun in my hands. There was no way I'd be able to sleep, not tonight. Nothing was sure anymore. I had to make sure they wouldn't catch me in an unguarded moment, not again.

_We can't go back to Sacramento,_ I thought, dread filling me. No, we couldn't go back. If they knew I'd been in Arizona, they surely knew where I was staying. I bit my lip in thought; what was happening with Irodia, and Mikhaila, and Tyler? Were they safe? Or had Genom kidnapped them like they'd attempted to kidnap Xania? Even if they were safe – which I wasn't sure of at all – I couldn't risk endangering them by going back. I couldn't even call them to warn them, not on the off-chance the phones were tapped. No…the best I could do was get away as far as possible, stay away, keep Genom away from them and focused on me.

I sighed at another realization; I didn't have much ammo. Besides the clip in my gun, I only had two others, and no more grenades. Once I used those up, my gun would be nothing more than a threatening-looking paperweight. "Shit," I hissed to myself. If even two more men were sent after me, I'd be pushing my luck. If they actually sent a dozen men after me next time, or a real Boomer, I'd be screwed. Even so, I swore that even if I didn't make it out, I would make sure Xania would. She'd done enough.

I promised her she would be ok. It was a promise I would take to my grave if I had to. I would not lose another friend. Michiko was enough.

She was enough…

-----

My willpower wasn't quite as strong as I'd thought. The last time I could recall seeing on the clock by the bed was 2:28 AM, and even before that I'd found my head jerking up whenever it had started to hang. Sometimes I'd open my eyes, bewildered, not having remembered closing them. But eventually, morning did come, however slowly, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself slumped over, my body spread over the pillow. I gasped and looked around quickly, sighing in relief when I saw Xania in the same position she'd been in the night before, on her stomach. Blood hadn't seeped through the bandage around her tail, so that told me it was starting to repair itself. I looked at the clock, and this time it said 8:49 AM.

"You're an idiot," I suddenly heard her say. I spun around; hadn't she been sound asleep a second ago?

"Xania! I thought you were asleep still."

"No. How well could I sleep like this, huh?" She slowly sat up, wincing as she had to force her tail to switch positions. "Like I said, you're an idiot."

"How am I an idiot?"

"When you first came to Cali, you were in pain ALL the time, from your stomach gettin' gutted. I KNOW you would've taken some if you'd had any." Her eyes narrowed. "You're a liar, Rosho. That stuff isn't for your leg."

"I ran out just before I came to Sacramento." It was the truth.

"So where'd you get it?"

"I had a prescription."

"Yeah right. Like a Japanese prescription is really gonna carry over to the U.S.!"

I had to admit, she had me there. "I found somebody to give me some."

"Like who?"

"Bert," I said blankly. "I didn't know it at the time we went over there to buy my gun though. I didn't find out till later."

"When? Dammit, Rosho, when?!" She was ready to jump off the bed and strangle me if I didn't answer. I just shrugged it off.

"A few months ago. After Sara's accident."

"So it's NOT for your leg!" she accused. "If it was really for your leg, you would've gotten it a hell of a lot sooner than a few months ago!"

"Didn't know any dealers," I replied cheekily. "I would've gotten it earlier if I'd known Bert had any."

Xania thought for a moment. "That day…March 16th….you were actin' funny, and I kinda had a feeling it wasn't just the anniversary thing, either. Damn it…you were high!! How many times have you used that shit to get high and not just for your leg, huh?!"

I shrugged; it wasn't like I was supposed to keep track of this stuff. "Does it matter? I'm not addicted. And it IS for my leg. Don't you recall how rainy it was when Sara's accident happened, and for weeks after? My leg hurt!! I went to Bert and asked if he knew anybody who could help me out, and it turned out he was the one I could go to." I was lying through my teeth, and judging by the look on Xania's face, she knew it.

"You're still an idiot! You went and did that, even though you knew about my parents bein' druggies?!" She stood up, but started to wobble as she held up what was left of her shorts to keep them from falling down.

"I'm not like them! They were so out of it the only thing they cared about was their next hit! I'm not like that!"

"Have you gotten high on this trip, Rosho? Have ya? Huh?!" she demanded. "When was the last time you got high?!"

"…Friday. Before we left."

"Four days ago?!"

"Yeah. And good thing I brought it with me, too. You got hurt pretty bad."

"Did YOU take any last night?" she asked darkly.

"No." I said it with a straight face. "I had to keep my wits about me in case any other 'bad guys' came looking."

"…You're still an idiot," she growled. "Where's the bottle?"

"Why?"

"Where's the fuckin' bottle?! I want you to pour it out!"

"I don't need to pour it out. I told you, I'm not an addict. I only take it when I need it."

"And how often is that, huh? Every time it rains? Rosho, we live in Sacramento, the heart of Cali! It rains all the time! You WILL be an addict sooner or later, if you're not already!"

"I just said—"

"And I don't believe you."

"You want it? You really want it?" Infuriated, I dug through my bag, producing the bottle, and tossed it at her. "There! But if you're in pain again later, I won't be able to give you any more if you pour that thing out!"

Xania actually gulped at the thought. She looked at the bottle again, then handed it back to me. "What, change your mind now?" I asked.

"…When you put it that way…" She scratched her head and paled, but still looked upset at me. "But promise me somethin'. When this whole thing is over, when my tail's healed up, you're gonna pour that thing out! You wantin' to go to the Olympics isn't gonna happen if they find that crap in your system."

"I know better than to take it during the Olympics! And besides…I'm not even sure about those anymore. Right now I'm just trying to figure out how to get through today. The Olympics are the last thing on my mind." I put the bottle back in my bag. "I'm gonna go find something to eat in the motel lobby. I'm hoping they have a continental breakfast like the one in Needles did. You want anything?"

"Surprise me. I'm not up for anythin' in particular at the moment."

"Ok."

I changed out of my nightshirt into some shorts and a tube top, Xania grimacing when she saw the graze wound on my back and the bandage around my ribs, but didn't say anything. Putting my jacket on, followed by my leg sleeve and some shoes, I left and headed downstairs. There had been a continental breakfast, but there wasn't much of anything left. I just grabbed a couple pieces of fruit and some bran muffins, took Xania's share back up to our room, then went back down the stairs and headed outside. It was a lovely morning, bright and with hardly any clouds in the sky, not surprising given that this was the middle of the desert. I sat down against the wall of the motel at the far end of the building and gazed across the parking lot at a family packing up their things, getting ready to head to their next destination.

_They look happy,_ I thought. _Good. They deserve to be happy. Someone here needs some normalcy in the middle of all this._ I smiled to myself as I heard the mother remind her children to take some Dramamine before they headed out, that she didn't want the carpet in the minivan to smell like puke for the whole road trip. Yet I doubted even Dramamine would've helped last night when I'd seen what I'd done to the two men. The memory still nauseated me. I was disgusted…with the sight, myself, with the whole damn situation. Had it only been four days ago that we set out on this trip, four days ago that I'd had Greg try to comfort me, four days since I hung out with Bert and Juan? And karaoke was only two days ago…no, not even that, more like one-and-a-half.

What happened?!

_Just rewind to four days ago. Rewind. I want that day back!_

Oh, what I would give to have Bert's entire arsenal of weapons with me, or better yet, those weapons AND Bert, and Juan. Then we could take out whatever was coming together. But that wasn't going to happen.

I was by myself in this. And there was no one I could call for help.

-----

I rubbed my shoulder as I headed back into the motel and up the stairs to my room. It had started to throb, and I thought I'd recalled seeing some sort of gel pack in the first-aid kit I could put on it. I knocked on the door, letting Xania know it was me, then unlocked the door and entered.

"Xania?" I said out loud, noting the bandage around her tail. She was back in her stomach-down position on her bed, and the bandage looked…bulkier than usual. I took a look at Xania's face and almost gasped out loud. Her eyes were rolled into the back of her head, her eyelids fluttering, like she was having a seizure. I quickly bent down and unwrapped the bandage, only to get another shock: the back half of a bullet was sticking out of part of the base of the tail. With each little faint buzzing sound I heard come from the tail, the bullet was pushed out a little bit more. My jaw dropped. I'd never thought a cybernetic limb could do something like this!

I sat down on my knees on the carpet, watching both the bullet being pushed out and watching Xania's face for any sign of distress. Instead, her eyelids just kept fluttering. Had she known about this? I turned back to the tail, and my eyes got wide as the bullet finally was completely pushed out, and it fell to the bedspread harmlessly. I picked it up; the front end was completely smashed in, but I didn't know if it was from hitting the tail, or from hitting a bone.

I turned to look at Xania again, and the eyelid-fluttering had stopped. She now looked peaceful, like she was sleeping. But as I grimaced upon seeing the new hole in her tail, I wondered how that was humanly possible. I rewrapped the base of it in the bandage and went back to the first-aid kit for my original objective: to find a gel pack. I quickly found it, in a built-in pouch, and sat down against my bed, holding it to my shoulder. The coolness spread into my shoulder, and the throbbing lessened.

"It's hot in here," I said out loud, wiping the sweat from my forehead. I stood up, still holding the gel pack against my shoulder, and looked around for a switch for the air-conditioning. I found it, and turned it on full-blast. We were in the desert; who needed heat?!

"Damn it," I cursed; my ribs were now throbbing as well. Switching the gel pack between my ribs and my shoulder wasn't gonna cut it, I knew that much. The first-aid kit was sure to have some aspirin in it, but somehow I didn't believe that would work either. As much as I knew Xania would hate it, I just might've had to resort to my pink liquid for this. And I did just that. I reached into the bag and took out the little white bottle, filled up the dropper, and swallowed the whole thing.

"You're not the only one hurting," I said to Xania, though I knew she was unable to hear me. "I think I'll join you."

I went back under the covers of my bed, and before whatever high I could've had had a chance to kick in, I was asleep again.

-----

I was happy.

I was walking down the side of a suburban road, holding hands with a guy. We were laughing. I was able to tell him all of my secrets – my time as a Knight Saber, my hopes and dreams for the future, even my worst fears. There was nothing I couldn't tell him.

But I couldn't see his face. All I could see was his smile. I found myself lost in that smile. It made me feel safe. The rest of the world seemed to disappear; it was only the two of us.

But then, the smile turned to an evil smirk. My own smile faded, and the rest of the man's face came into view. Grey eyes…long black hair tied back in a ponytail…

I pulled my hand away. Or tried to. He held it fast in his grip.

"Why are you trying to run away, Yumeko?" Boh asked, still smirking. "There's nowhere to run to."

I looked around; indeed, the world had disappeared, and it was just him and me, only instead of a serene sea of white like it had been a second ago, it was an eerie grey, darker than the grey in his eyes. The air started to get heavy, and a humid kind of heat filled that air around us. "Where are we?" I demanded, trying to pull my hand away again, to no avail.

"You are always running away. Typical. Why can you not stay and confront what is bothering you?"

"I confronted them. And they're dead," I spat. "And you really think I'd stick around after blowing their car up, twice even? I'm not that crazy."

Boh snapped the fingers on his free hand, and from behind him came two shadowy figures. I gasped and tried to pull away again as I recognized them; the two men I had killed. And from behind them came old man Quincy.

"What the hell?!"

"Ironic, isn't it, Yumeko? You tried to kill me and Mr. Quincy believing we were both human, and you killed these two men here believing they were Boomers. And you had it wrong both times. What makes you think you can trust your own judgment in the future?"

"I'd always had Boomers sent after me…I never thought I'd have real humans sent after me. Humans are fallible."

"Therefore, you admit you, too, are fallible."

"So what! It was kill or be killed. Whether they were human or Boomer, I knew they intended to capture, if not kill, me as well as Xania. They didn't give me any other option…just like when you were stabbing me. Didn't matter…I just wanted you to stop."

"You came to Genom Tower that August night…fully expecting to die. Yet as it turns out, you're not quite ready to play martyr, are you?" He cocked his head, earnestly awaiting my answer.

I just returned his smirk. "Things went my way that night. I'm not gonna deny I was happy about that."

"You know that's not always going to be the case, though. Luck, if you wish to call it that, does run out, just as each cat runs out of its nine lives. Yours is due."

"I know this isn't the end of it. I know something else is gonna come. And I'm ready for it. Whatever it is, I'm ready."

"Yumeko, you're not as ready as you think you are." He released my hand and tucked his hands into his jacket pockets, turning partway away from me. "Remember…you're fallible. You used the word first, not me."

I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could, everything went black, and Boh and the others disappeared from sight. I looked up into the sky, or whatever sky there was – it was black all the same as my surroundings – awaiting some awful thing to come out of nowhere, like had happened in places like this before. But instead came a voice…

"Rosho…"

I squirmed, hugging myself.

"Rosho, wake up!"

"Uhhh…"

My eyes fluttered open as I felt a pair of hands gently shaking my shoulders. I looked over my shoulder and saw Xania there, her eyes wide. "X…Xania?"

"You were talkin' in your sleep, like you were havin' a bad dream. You ok?"

"Yeah…" I sat up, brushing my hair out of my face. My whole body felt hot and sticky, yet somehow I didn't feel any better kicking the covers off of me. "I'm just hot. Even in my dreams I was hot."

"What'd you dream about?"

"Boh…and the two guys…"

"They're all dead. They can't do nothin' to us now." She looked at me curiously, putting a hand on my forehead. "Shit!" she hissed, yanking her hand away. "You're burnin' up!"

"Well, I WAS under the covers."

"No, no, you're really hot." She bent down and dug a thermometer out of the first-aid kit. By this time, I was sitting up, and from my vantage point, I could see she wasn't wearing her bloodied shorts anymore. She wasn't wearing anything below the waist, actually.

"Oh, put on something," I said, exasperated. "You should still be in bed anyway."

"I'm fine." She ignored my order and stood up, sticking the thermometer in my mouth. When it beeped, she pulled it out and took a look at the reading. "Rosho…you ain't fine. This thing says 101.3 degrees. Bein' under those covers ain't gonna hike up your temp THAT much. And never mind the fact you've got the air conditioner on full blast in here!!" She rubbed her arms and shivered slightly.

"Still feels hot in here to me…"

"'Cause you've got a fever!!" she snapped. Finally digging through her own bag to find a pair of underwear or something to put on, Xania just shook her head. "Of all the times to get sick…"

"Don't worry about me! I'm more worried about taking care of your tail right now!" I cleared my throat at the memory of what I'd seen earlier. "Um…by the way, what you said about it repairing itself…that's a pretty graphic process, huh? I saw it push the bullet out of your ass. You looked…freaky there."

"My tail does something to my body when it's goin' through the worst part of the repair process. I guess it releases something to sedate me for a bit." She shrugged. "I dunno what exactly."

"You looked pretty out of it until the bullet was out, then you fell asleep."

Xania pulled on her underwear, folding down the band so that it rested just below where her tail connected to her butt. "Still hurts," she said. "I didn't wanna have to thread it through my underwear…"

"Are you up to traveling tonight?" I suddenly asked. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"Why?! You're sick and my tail and ass still hurt like a son-of-a-bitch."

"I am NOT sick," I reiterated. "And we need to keep moving in case somebody else is coming after us."

"If anybody else IS comin', I doubt they'd be comin' so soon after havin' some of their friends blown up."

"You don't know Genom…even I don't know them that well, but I'd rather not take any chances, would you?"

She sighed and started to dig through the first-aid kit again. "No, but it wouldn't hurt to rest up a little more. Fevers can make a person kinda goofy, and I wouldn't wantcha drivin' if you've got a fever like that."

"You're acting like my fever's 105 or something. It's not."

"This IS Arizona. The sun's not gonna help with your fever." She took out a small packet of ibuprofen. "Here, this oughta do it."

I ripped open the packet and popped the pills in my mouth, swallowing them dry. "So what do you think? If the sun IS gonna wreak havoc on me, maybe we should wait until the sun goes down, then head out again."

"It's 3 PM now. We've still got a couple hours to kill before then. So let's just relax, huh?" Xania flipped on the TV and sat down gingerly on the edge of her bed, resting her tail behind her. I just laid back on my bed and put a hand to my forehead. It was hot, but…it didn't seem that bad. Didn't seem like a good reason to put off heading out for a few more hours. Sure, I was achy, but I chalked that up to having been hit by a car the night before. Damn it, why did I have to get sick now?! Was it from the stress of the recent events? Sure, it could've been, but even if it was, I wish it would've waited until later…much later…I didn't care how later, just anytime but now.

_I'm fine, I'm just hot. I just wanna get going again,_ I thought, closing my eyes.

A while later – I didn't know how much later; it could've been a couple minutes, could've been an hour – I felt a cold cloth being placed on my forehead. I half-opened my eyes, but Xania shushed me before I could speak.

"It's ok," she said softly. "You took care of me, now I gotta do the same for you."

"You're…taking this whole situation well," I said, my voice suddenly hoarse.

"I'm stuffing it," she admitted without batting an eye. "We can bitch about it later, right?"

"Heh. Right…" I sighed. "Y'know…that was the least violent dream I've had with Boh in a while…and before that…I was walking with a guy. Holding hands. And I was…happy, and laughing…"

Xania smiled. "Greg?"

"I dunno who it was. Whoever he was…I wish we had somebody like him around now…"

-----

Once I felt like doing something besides laying in bed, me and Xania watched some TV together. I wasn't really paying attention though; it was just something to do to take my mind off everything. Seemed better than just sleeping it off, anyway, and besides, nobody can sleep forever. Watching TV forever would be easier to pull off.

"Rosho, I just had a thought," Xania suddenly said.

"Huh? What?"

"When we went to buy your gun that one time…I do remember Bert throwing in a grenade, but only 'cause you persuaded him to."

"So?"

"It was only ONE grenade. You used two last night. Where'd you get the other one?"

I scratched my head in thought. She was right…he HAD only given me one, and I knew I hadn't brought another one over from Japan; I didn't have a gun to use it with anymore, anyway. "I think it was…a couple weeks ago, just after the summit anniversary," I said.

Yes. It had been the weekend after the anniversary of the summit. I had gone down to the Black Spider to let off some steam. Lunch with Sara and Greg on that day had helped put me at ease, but I still had so much pent-up anger and frustration. I'd fired like mad at all the targets, using up all the clips I'd had.

"Damn, girl, you're kinda trigger-happy today, huh?" Bert said.

"Just a little," I replied dryly. "I need some more clips."

"12-round clips, or more 15-rounders?"

"15-round ones."

I forked over the money, and Bert handed me several clips, joking for me not to use them all up at once. "Oh yeah, that reminds me o' something."

"Of what?" I asked.

"If you're really lookin' to shoot up something, a friend of mine has this place out near San Fran. Bunch of old junkyard cars. Perfect target practice." He slapped a gun grenade in my hand. "I bet they'd blow up nice too with one o' those babies."

"I already have a grenade."

"So now you have two. Maybe we could take a trip out to San Fran sometime and use 'em. Sound fun?"

"Sure!"

I smirked as I told Xania the story. Cars as target practice…well, he was right in that regard. Too bad they weren't used just for fun on old beat-up cars though. And lucky for me I'd bought more than two clips, or I'd be in deep shit right now.

"So why'd you bring 'em along on this trip?" Xania asked.

"I never took 'em out of my jacket. Can you imagine if Mikhaila found them in one of my drawers?!"

She snickered. "Oh boy…that'd be funny."

"It's just better if I keep 'em with me, that's all. Of course, I don't have any now, and I dunno where I'd get any more. Like Bert said, grenade-using guns are illegal, let alone the grenades themselves… I just don't know." I stood up. "We should get our stuff together and get a move-on."

"You feelin' ok now?"

"I'm fine," I lied; I still felt terribly hot, and that ibuprofen I'd taken earlier didn't seem to help much. "What about you?"

She pointed to the shorts she now donned. "I managed to get my tail through the hole in the back. I think I'll be ok."

"Can you wrap it around your waist?" She did so, and promptly undid it. "Good. That thing really repairs itself fast."

"It's not done yet. Still hurts, and I still have trouble walkin'."

"I'll make sure not to get a room on the third floor again then," I quipped.

"Oh, you're too kind," she said, returning the sarcastic tone.

As I put my dirty clothes into my bag, I took a quick look over at Xania, who seemed to be mentally debating to herself as she held up her bloodied shorts in her hand, wondering whether to trash them or take them with her. Finally, she just shrugged and stuffed them into her bag. I smirked as I put my bag on my bed, then packed up the first-aid kit; I didn't suppose the guy at the front desk would mind if the thing was missing an Ace bandage, which happened to still be wrapped around my ribs at the moment.

"Why're you taking your shorts?" I asked.

"I wanna spare the ick factor for the people that clean this room," she joked. "Don't want 'em to come in and see a pair of ripped-up, bloody shorts layin' around. They'd probably think somebody got ass-raped in here."

I grimaced. Did she have to be so graphic? "Point taken. You have everything?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

The electricity chose that moment to suddenly go out. The lamps by our beds suddenly went black, and the TV screen went dark. I looked around in surprise. "Well, that was interesting."

"Not our problem," Xania said.

"You're right. Let's get downstairs and check out."

"Where're we goin'?"

"…I don't know. I guess we'll just go wherever the road takes us. Doesn't matter now."

Xania sighed in disappointment. "_Gurando Kyanion o miru…no…_what's the rest?"

"…_Miru no wa tanoshimi ni—_"

"—_Shiteta'n da._ Ok. Damn. So much for that. I guess we could always run away to the Rockies."

"I didn't bring any mountain-climbing gear," I said, tongue in cheek. "Do you hear something?" I suddenly asked; I felt like I could hear a faint popping noise coming from outside.

She listened intently. "Um…hey, yeah, I do. It's gettin' louder."

I gasped when the noise got much louder…and closer. "Get away from the window! Duck!!"

I yanked her away from in front of the window just in time, for at that same moment I could hear the windows of the next room shatter. A split-second later, the one for our room shattered as well, glass flying. We both yelped and ducked down between the beds, glass raining down, me jumping slightly at the sound of bullets lodging into the walls.

"C'mon!" I snapped, crawling over my bed and towards the door. "We gotta get outta here!"

I got to the door and, still on my knees, opened it. Peeking out of the crack, I looked up and down the corridor. People were running out of their rooms, panicked, some bloody. Once the horde passed, I pushed open the door and urged Xania to stay close behind me. "They know we're here," she gulped.

"Yeah, I noticed," I growled to myself. I stood up, helping her to her feet as well. We both fell back down to the ground, however, when there was a loud rumble below us on the second floor, followed by a boom, and the sound of crumbling debris.

"God no," I said breathlessly.

"What now?!" Xania demanded.

"I know that sound…they sent a Boomer."

"A combat one?"

"Y…yeah. Shit." I grabbed her by her jacket and pulled her close so her face was in mine. "Xania. You're gonna have to run. And quick. It WILL kill you if it gets the chance."

"What about you, Rosho?!" she asked, frantic.

"Don't worry about me. If we split up, it'll come after me and leave you alone. I'm the one it wants." I pulled out my gun and pulled the slide back.

"But you don't have any more grenades!!"

"I KNOW that!!"

"But where do I go?!"

"Away. That's all that matters. Just run. …Just live."

"But…but Rosho…"

I shoved her towards the stairs. "GO! I'll catch up to you! Just run!!"

Xania stumbled to her feet. "But how do we find each other?!"

"We just will, ok?! Don't think, just go!" I stood up. "I promised you things would be ok. And they w ill be. But you need to go."

She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Ok…ok. Take care, girl."

"I will."

She took off down the stairs. Once she was gone, I leaned up against the wall, gun clenched in both hands, gritting my teeth. This was insane. For them to send a Combat Boomer against one person…who wasn't even in a hardsuit…it was crazy. _They must really want me bad,_ I thought as the ground vibrated with the Boomer's movements. _Fine. Here I am, you bastards. Just leave the other people here out of this._

The blast from a mouth cannon pierced the ground just feet from me, coming up through the ground and going right up into the ceiling. The ceiling seemed to explode, raining down debris on me. I ran towards the stairs quickly, my heart practically pounding its way through my chest. That was close! And then, the hole from the cannon blast seemed to open up, and the ground around it crumbled and disappeared as a large, blue, muscular figure shoved its way up through it. I gulped. Just as I thought; a 55C Boomer.

It turned and looked at me, eyes glowing red as it stood to confront me. It eyed my leg sleeve, then looked at my face. "You're the one," it growled. I aimed my gun and emptied my clip into its chest, hoping against hope that it would do some sort of damage. But without any grenades, whatever fight I might put up against this thing was futile. The Boomer looked down at the small holes in its chest, then just looked up at me again, as if shrugging them off.

"Damn, this really is useless," I swore, letting the empty magazine drop to the floor as I loaded another one. It stalked its way in my direction, making me back up to keep my distance. I was almost at the stairs now, I had to make a choice; run up to the fourth floor, or down to the first or second? The Boomer wasn't about to let me decide. It fired its mouth cannon again, this time at the door frame just in front of the stairs. I had turned my head to see what it was firing at, but then everything behind me exploded in a shower of debris. I fell forward, curled up, onto the floor, my body having been impaled by at least a dozen small fragments of would-be shrapnel. I cursed loudly and looked up again; the Boomer towered above me, and if it was able to smirk, I'm sure it would have.

"You know I'd rather die than go along with you," I spat in disgust, feeling blood run down my right calf from a fragment that had impaled it. I winced and pulled it out.

"Then you'll die," it replied matter-of-factly. "It's that simple."

"Yeah, it is."

I stood up and aimed my gun in its face. I fired three times before the Boomer grabbed my arm and casually threw me back against the wall, or at least the part of it that hadn't already been blown away. I rolled out of the way as the Boomer again fired its mouth cannon, blowing away the ground where my feet had been seconds before. I grabbed onto the railing and ran up the stairs, feeling and hearing parts of the wall getting blown away right behind me as the Boomer fired its mouth cannon along my path. With another boom behind me, the stairway collapsed. I was stuck on the fourth floor.

I ran to the far end of the floor and sat down quickly, feeling for whatever pieces or splinters or whatever were still sticking in my skin, and pulled out the ones I could reach, tossing them aside. I saw a door open, and ran into that room and looked for whatever I could find to tie around my leg wound, which seemed to be bleeding the most. I tore off a piece of a nearby pillowcase and tied it around my leg, wincing when I pulled the cloth tight. A thought came to me at that moment – why was I bothering to tend to a wound when there was an immediate threat just below? – and I had to smirk to myself at the irony. I was probably going to die, and here I was, looking for makeshift bandages for wounds that weren't gonna matter in two minutes anyway. Oh well. People think of strange things in situations like this, I suppose.

I exited the room just as the Boomer, using its jumpjets, came up to the fourth floor. "I'd ask if it made you feel like a man, picking on a little girl like this, but I'd be wasting my breath," I called to it. I pulled the slide back on my gun again and fired four shots at it, again not doing any damage whatsoever. The Boomer walked towards me again, and once again fired its mouth cannon at the ground, making the ground explode in front of me. I curled up and put my arms over my head to protect myself from any more potential shrapnel, and when I pulled them away, I saw what the Boomer had intended: with me at the far end of the hallway and no more ground in front of me left, only a hole down to the third floor, I was effectively pinned. Even if I wanted to, I wasn't even able to get into the closest room now.

"Well…this sucks," I said in exasperation. The Boomer opened its mouth again, ready to fire again. I could feel my whole body tense up; I had nothing to hide behind, and damned if I hadn't had to use both of my grenades against those two guys last night. _And they weren't even Boomers,_ I thought, not laughing at the irony anymore. _And now that I'm against a real Boomer, I don't have anything real to use on it. God dammit._

I ducked as the Boomer fired again; it was all I could do. The wall behind me exploded, sending me flying forward right into the hole it had made with the previous blast. I could feel the breath get expelled from my lungs as I landed on my back on the pile of debris below, my body aching, the back of my head pounding, my ears unable to discern what the Boomer was doing next now that that last blast had left me temporarily deaf.

I squeezed my eyes shut and lay still as I felt the ground vibrate for a brief second; the Boomer had come back down to the third floor. I coughed as I managed to catch my breath again, and opened my eyes to look up at the hole I'd fallen through. It was hazy now, with smoke filling the air, the smell of said smoke filling my nostrils. The Boomer was heading towards me again; I could feel each step vibrate through the ground. I was about to meet my maker.

_I hope Xania made it out ok,_ I thought, closing my eyes again.

I felt no more steps vibrating. I assumed it had stopped to charge up its mouth cannon, this time to fire through my torso. But no, that didn't happen either. My hearing started to come back, and when it did I could make out a 'ping-ping-ping' noise. A second later, another explosion, but smaller than the others. I opened my eyes and lifted up my head, and through the smoke I could make out the figure of the Boomer…slumped against the wall, its head gone, and three large needles sticking out of its chest. I turned my gaze a little bit to the left, and out of the smoke came a figure…an armored figure…two long protrusions from each side of the head…high heels…and red stripes around each leg. It was blue with grey/silver accents, and red stripes on the helmet.

My vision got hazy, and before I dropped my head and faded into unconsciousness, I felt the tears spring into my eyes. I was dreaming. I had to be.

The tears broke free and streaked my cheeks.

"…Mom…"


	5. Bittersweet reunion

This wasn't how I had imagined a reunion to be. I'd hoped it'd be under better circumstances, but different circumstances warranted a different kind of reunion. As I made my way out of the motel, my daughter in my arms, I didn't have time to complain. If I'd arrived a moment later…

Judging from the holes in the Boomer's chest when I'd arrived to kill it, Yume had put up quite a fight with her new gun. She must've known the bullets wouldn't do any damage, but that didn't keep her from fighting anyway. Reminded me of myself, in a different time… Said gun was still in her hand, like even in unconsciousness she could lift it up and fire away. She'd talked about it in one of her vidletters…a Spitdevil, I think she called it…but this was my first look at it. She definitely had good taste in weaponry, no debating that.

"It's ok," I whispered when she started to groan. "You did good."

"Priss! Did you get her?" Nene called out over the comm.

"Yeah, I have her. Took care of the Boomer too."

"We can't stick around," Sylia said flatly. "Nene, get the girls' things."

"Where's Yume's friend?"

"Linna found her. She's shaken, but alright."

"Is everyone in the KnightWing?"

"Yes."

I nodded to myself and jetted up to the roof of the motel. The KnightWing was a full mile away so as not to attract attention, but still, I lamented to myself that if she'd parked the damn thing a little closer, I could've gotten to the motel sooner and saved Yume sooner. I jetted down to the ground again, this time behind the motel, and took off running in the direction of the plane, using the jumpjets to boost me along.

"Rosho!" the monkey-tailed girl exclaimed, jumping to her feet as I ran up into the plane, followed seconds later by Nene, carrying two duffel bags. "Is she ok?!"

"She's fine," I said in English.

After Sylia closed up the back of the plane, we took off, and I pulled off my helmet and laid Yume down on the bench. Xania looked around at all of us, positively confused.

"You're…the Knight Sabers," she said, voice shaking. "And you're Rosho's mom. You're Priss Asagiri…"

"Yes. I am."

Linna went into the cockpit, and came out a moment later with some unusually thin earphones. "What're those?" I asked.

"Sylia said to put these on. It'll translate Xania's English into Japanese for you, and Xania can set hers up so your speech will be heard in English."

"Oh." I put it on, setting it up as Linna said Sylia had instructed her to. When Xania spoke again, I could hear her in a language I could understand. There was no way we'd be getting far if I could barely speak English. And I doubted she knew Japanese.

"Is she gonna be ok?!" she asked, setting up her earphones with Linna's help as she put them on.

"She doesn't look too bad, though she might've hit her head." I stroked Yume's forehead, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "What about you?"

"Oh, do I have stories for you!! Last night these two guys—"

"We know about them already," Linna said; she was fluent in English, so she didn't need any earphones to translate for her.

"You do?"

Nene nodded, taking off her helmet. "Our network runs deep."

Xania looked at her, her eyes widening slightly, yet at the same time not looking too shocked. "You're Irodia's cousin," she said without skipping a beat. "I saw you…all of you…on Rosho's stash of vidletters."

"You looked at them?"

"Without Rosho's permission," she said cheekily. "She caught me looking at them, and after I asked her a bunch of questions, she finally told me she wasn't from Mexico. She said she was a Knight Saber in hiding." She turned to look at me again as I climbed out of my suit. "…She saved me last night, y'know. She blew up those two bastards to do it."

"We know," I sighed, sitting down next to Yume. I wasn't able to notice it in my suit, but when I stroked her forehead again, I could feel it was hot. "…She's sick."

"I know. She kept insistin' we get a move-on, but I told her we oughta stay put 'cause she wasn't feelin' well…" Xania frowned to herself. "…I…I guess if we'd left earlier like she wanted, this wouldn't have happened."

"They would've found you anyway," Linna said gently, now out of her own suit. "And out in the open, it would've ended a lot worse than it did."

"We were just about to leave when that thing came! Rosho made me run; she said if we split up, I'd be safe 'cause it'd be goin' after her, that…that she was the target anyway." Xania stopped and yelled towards the cockpit. "Hey! Where're we goin', anyway?!"

"San Francisco," Sylia replied. "There's a place there where we can stay for the time being while we plan our next move."

"…Next move? Like what?"

"It doesn't concern you," Nene said before I could speak. "But for the moment we can't let you go back to Sacramento. You and Yumeko will be safer with us."

"What about my mom and Irodia and Mikhaila and—"

"They're fine. I checked in on Irodia, and she checked in on your mom for us. Everyone's fine."

"Do they know what happened?"

"No. I didn't go into details. I just told Irodia that you and Yumeko were ok. I told her not to tell your mom anything."

"Oh…ok…"

Yume groaned again, her head lolling back and forth slightly. I took one of her hands in mine. "It's alright," I assured her. "We'll get you taken care of."

"You sure she's gonna be ok?" Xania asked again.

"Her injuries don't look too severe," Linna said. "Right, Priss? You scanned her when you picked her up, right?"

"Of course I did," I said in an annoyed tone. What kind of question was that? "Bruises and a mild concussion."

"She was complainin' about her ribs hurtin' earlier," Xania interjected.

"They're just bruised. So's her shoulder. It's all ok."

"Y'know about her blowin' up the car, but did ya know she let herself get hit by that car so it'd crash so she COULD blow it up?"

Everyone gaped. Even though I couldn't see Sylia, I imagined even she had a shocked, if not surprised, look on her face as well.

"Uh, no…didn't know that…"

Xania just smirked.

"That explains those injuries, then…" I said, trying to hide my own smirk.

"It DOES sound like Priss," Nene joked.

"Hey!!"

"How long will it take to get to San Francisco?" Linna asked Sylia.

"About an hour."

"Why'd you grab our stuff?" Xania asked, now noticing hers and Yume's duffel bags laying nearby. "I saw you come back with 'em."

"We couldn't afford to leave anything of yours behind," Nene said, "in case Genom got ahold of it. Couldn't leave anything that said you were there."

"But we checked in…"

"I deleted your names from their file. So nobody can say you were there at all."

"What, are you a hacker?"

Nene imitated Xania's earlier smirk and said coyly, "Me? A hacker? No, never. I just dabble in a little bit of computer espionage, that's all."

"Oh, is that all?" she asked dryly.

While Xania and Nene started chatting about computer stuff, Linna came over to me and took a look at Yume. "It could've been worse," she said softly. "Good thing we got here when we did."

I wiped a tear from my eye with the back of my hand. "Yeah…"

"Given what Xania said, I guess it's apparent we don't know all of what happened last night. Yumeko can tell us when she wakes up."

"If she feels up to it, yeah…"

She took Yume's gun and held it in her hands, examining it from every angle. "I'd hate to say having a case of paranoia is a good thing, but in her case, it saved her life."

"Yeah, but I wish she didn't have to be. I sent her over here so she could just be normal for a while, be a normal teenage girl and do the things teenage girls do."

"And she did. But that's over now. We need to deal with the Genom situation now, and turn over the information we have to the U.N." She gazed at Yume again. "Soon."

I turned to Yume's friend just in time for her to ask Nene the question I knew was coming. "How the fuck did they know we were here anyway?!" she asked loudly. "How'd they know she was Yumeko? Her bein' over here was supposed to be foolproof!!"

"…Her motorcycle," Nene said slowly, bowing her head just a little bit. "They tracked her through the VIN number for her motorcycle. I thought shipping it over to Sacramento would ease the homesickness a bit, but…" She sagged her shoulders, weariness etching her face. "I did all the paperwork, tried to make it look like we just sold it to someone in the States. I…wasn't thorough enough, apparently. I apologize."

"…Her bike? That's how they tracked her down, her bike? That's…stupid," Xania spat, mostly to herself. "So how'd they know we were goin' through Needles?"

"They were watching, spying. It's what they do. They were waiting for a moment when you'd have nowhere to run to, when you…weren't paying attention."

"Damn it!!" she cursed, punching the bench she was sitting on with her fist. "It's not fair!! She was havin' fun! I was havin' fun! We even did karaoke the other night! This isn't how it was supposed to turn out!"

"I know…"

Xania hugged Nene and started to cry, her body shaking, her tail twitching. I could feel myself start to tear up too, but stopped myself. This wasn't the time to break down. But…the tears ran down my cheeks anyway. I didn't even wipe them away; I let them drip off my chin as I clutched Yume's hand tight.

"It's not over," I swore. "Not by a long shot."

-----

I was dead. I was sure of it. My body, my entire body, felt hot, like it was on fire. I could feel the smoke going up my nose, tickling my nostrils, slowly choking off my supply of oxygen. I couldn't move…I felt trapped. A monster in blue was after me…and for a moment, I thought I had seen an angel, also in blue, rescuing me. But it was a dream. Nobody was able to rescue me, not in the middle of nowhere. It was impossible.

The heat was broken by a coolness on my forehead. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel like it belonged. How was my head cool when the rest of me was burning up? I grabbed the cool thing from my forehead, jerking up in bed, sweat pouring off of me…

Bed?

How had I gotten into a bed? I looked around, and noticed I was in a bedroom, a nice bedroom, unlike the room at the motel. A lamp on the nightstand was on, and looking out the windows, I could see lights from skyscrapers dazzling against the night sky.

…Where the hell was I?

"Hi, Yume," I heard a feminine voice say. I turned to my right, and in the corner of the room, on the other side of the nightstand, was a brunette-haired woman, seated in a plush chair. The eyes…I knew those red eyes. And the face. And…

"M…Mom?"

"Yes. It's me." She stood up and sat at the foot of the bed.

"I thought I was…I was dreaming…" My hands inexplicably started to shake. No…she wasn't here. There was no way Mom was in the States.

"No, it's real. You fought a Boomer at that motel, remember?"

I nodded. "Y-yeah…but…I was saved…I thought I saw you in your suit."

Mom smiled. "You did. You passed out when I got to you though. You took a few lumps, but you're ok."

"…What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass, silly," she said, trying to make a joke out of it. "There's only so much you can do against Boomers without a hardsuit."

"They found me. They kidnapped Xania, and I had to chase 'em down on my bike. I blew up their car with my gun grenades. …They were human!" I cried. "I killed human beings!"

"I know, I know." She took one of my hands into hers. "But you were saving Xania, and yourself. You did what you had to do."

"Is she ok?!"

"She's fine. Sylia's doing some work on her tail right now. Apparently she got shot when you were rescuing her, and her tail's been doing some self-repair, but Sylia's just fine-tuning it. She'll be good as new."

I could feel my composure breaking down, and rapidly. What was wrong with me? I'd been so strong the past few days. I had to be, for Xania's sake. Being weak would've gotten us both killed. "I almost got her killed. It's all my fault. What did I do wrong?! How'd they find me?!"

"The VIN on your bike," she stated calmly. "They tracked you through that."

"…After all the trouble Nene went through to send it to Sacramento…"

"I know. But you didn't do anything wrong, ok? From what I understand, you did everything by the book. Nothing you did gave anything away."

"But…my bike? That's ridiculous!"

"That's what Xania said too. But that's what happened."

"Where are we? Is this Phoenix?"

Mom raised an eyebrow. "Well, you were in Arizona, but no, this ain't Phoenix. We're in San Francisco."

"…San Franci—Wait! You came here in the KnightWing?!" I shouted.

"Uh-huh. Brought everything with us, too. Suits, Motoroids…yours too."

I practically felt my heart stop. No…I didn't want this. As much as I'd missed it the past seven and a half months, suddenly I didn't want it. Now that they were right here in front of my eyes…it was too much.

"No. No! I don't want it! I don't want my suit!"

"Yume, listen to me. Genom knows you've gone off their radar. They're probably damn aware that that Boomer failed to catch you. You're better off staying with us now. I sure as hell ain't gonna let you run around by yourself a walking target! We are going to end this. You hear me?! In the next few days, we're gonna go medieval on Madigan's ass."

"But how?! Storming Genom Tower like you planned back in August?!" I snapped.

"Hell yeah!" she declared, making me almost fall off the bed in surprise. What was THAT supposed to mean?!

"But what for?!"

"What for? What for, huh?" She grinned. "Oh, wait till Nene shows you what we've got. We've got proof that we were set up. I talked with the former U.S. ambassador to Japan last night, and he practically bared his soul to me."

"You talked with…?"

"Yup. Quincy told him to hire us, so he could 'kill us on an international stage,' and the people who were killed weren't exactly collateral either."

I could only shake my head. It made sense…but to do it in such a dramatic manner as to send Boomers? We all knew that they hadn't been just random rogue Boomers; it was obvious they were pre-programmed to carry out the mission they did. Blowing up the convention center…that hadn't been just a last resort to beat us.

"Those Boomers…they weren't there just to kill us… They were there to kill the world leaders too, the ones who…" I started. Mom nodded.

"Yeah. Disgusting, huh? Well, like I said, we've got all the dirt. In the next few days we're gonna hand it over to the U.N. for them to handle."

"Genom…will be finished then?"

"That's the hope. This isn't stuff they can just sweep under the rug, either. There's no hiding the assassination of one-hundred-and-eight people. They tried it, but we got the truth. They're not gonna be able to explain this away."

"But…storming Genom Tower…won't they expect that? I did that already—"

"Oh, but we're not going back to Tokyo to storm THAT one. We're storming the one here in San Francisco. Wanna know why?"

"Uh, sure."

"'Cause Madigan's there."

"She's…?"

"Yup," she said, nodding again, biting her lip, at the same time putting a hand on her stomach. I could see her trying not to wince, but it showed. "Ugh…um…once she found out you were here, she personally came over here so she could see you in person, in the event those guys you offed, or that Boomer, caught you and brought you to her."

"What's wrong?" I asked. "You got hurt?"

"It's nothing."

"I saw it in your most recent vidletter! You were fidgeting and making faces like you'd gotten hurt! What happened?"

"Yume…you'd blame yourself for it. I know you."

"Tell me anyway!"

She sighed. "In February…Madigan sent out a special kind of Boomer. It was a typical mission until that Boomer ambushed me. It seppukued me, and tried to get me to tell it where you were."

"They…stabbed you?" I felt the blood drain from my face. Oh God…it WAS my fault…she'd been hurt because of me…

"Yeah. Madigan herself approached me too, while the Boomer was torturing me. I still didn't tell her. The Boomer let me go, saying it was looking forward to playing with me again, if I lived."

"You seem so…cool about it. But it IS my fault. If I wasn't hiding here—"

"Don't start," she growled. "I knew what I was doing. I knew the risks. You had NO way of knowing. That's why I didn't tell you in the letters, 'cause I KNEW you'd do this, play the 'oh, it's my fault' game. Well, it's not. You're my daughter! I'm NOT about to let some…some punk-ass Boomers or Genom bastards get to you because of a weak moment on MY part!!"

"…I'm sorry…that it did that to you," I said weakly, grinding at one of my eyes with my hand; it had started to tear up. Mom had almost died and not even told me. Of course I'd be worried about her! "How bad was it?"

"Lost some blood, but it didn't hit anything major." She lifted up her shirt enough to reveal the almost two-inch-long scar between her solar plexus and her navel. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"How are yours?"

"My…scars? I don't wanna play the 'show me yours and I'll show you mine' game."

"Too late," she joked. "I went first, now it's your turn."

"I don't wanna."

"The last time I saw them, Sylia was putting another layer of surgical glue on them because you'd reopened them during your trip to Genom Tower," she said, this time more gently.

"…Don't touch though."

"I won't."

I lifted up my tube top, half-amazed to still see the bandage around my ribs. But below that was my long stomach scar, with the four smaller scars above and below it. I looked up and saw Mom shake her head in what I thought was disbelief. But why? She knew what Boh had done to me.

"I'm sorry, Yume," she whispered, tears in her eyes as she looked up at me again. I jumped slightly when she started to caress my cheek with one hand.

"It's…it's not your fault…" I replied, voice trembling. I felt myself losing it again… No…I couldn't afford to…

"I'm sorry about having to send you over here, but you know why I had to. And…I'm sorry about Michiko."

"D-don't say that…I'm the one who couldn't protect her…"

She lifted up my head, moving her hand to under my chin to do so. "Yume…have you cried for her at all?"

"Of course…"

"Recently?"

"I haven't…cried, no. I…I just try not to think about it."

"When was the last time you cried?"

It wasn't hard to recall the last time I'd cried; I'd made a conscious effort not to do so almost since I'd first arrived. "Six months. The first month I couldn't stop, but…I couldn't keep going, either. I…I had to fit in."

"So you suppressed it," she surmised. "Yume, you need to let yourself mourn her. I know what it's like to lose a friend. It's something you need to let yourself work through."

"I CAN'T!!" I screamed. "I still don't want to believe she's gone!! That I let her die!! She died because of ME! How am I supposed to deal with that, huh?! I have to be strong! I have to!! Xania needs me to be strong for her!"

"You don't need to be strong for her anymore," she reminded me. "We're here now. You don't need to take care of her. We're gonna do that now, for the both of you."

"Yes I do…yes I do…I can't go weak on her now…she's…she's counting on me…"

"It's alright. Let yourself go. You need to."

"No…stop it…" It was too late; I could feel myself crumbling underneath this weight that suddenly bore down on my shoulders. "I don't wanna…"

"I know you don't, but you have to let yourself do it. Take it from me, if you don't, you'll go crazy. You'll do stupid shit that'll just add to your sorrow later."

"Stop talking!!" I yelled, the tears coursing down my cheeks. "Would you just stop?! I don't wanna hear any more!"

The dam inside my head broke free. I couldn't stop the tide now. I collapsed into Mom's arms, sobbing. I was afraid. I was afraid if I'd ever let myself start to cry again, that I would never stop. I was used to being in control; crying meant total loss of control. But here I was…having lost control, unwillingly allowing myself to be vulnerable. The thought repulsed me; I wasn't supposed to be vulnerable. And like I'd feared, I couldn't stop crying. All the tears I'd held back these past months…all the sorrow I'd refused to let myself feel as I tried to lead a normal life, tried to keep myself busy, keep myself occupied with anything but what had happened in the two weeks prior to me coming to Sacramento.

_Michiko! Come back to me,_ I thought as my body finally wore itself out, and I fell limp in Mom's arms, hiccupping from the sobs. _Where are you when I need you the most?_

"They need you now," I heard her say in the back of my mind. "You need to help them, help your friends."

"Micchan…"

"I'm here for you. It's okay."

I could feel a kiss land on my cheek. I drifted off to sleep, feeling that Michiko really had come down to visit me, if only for a moment.

-----

My entire body felt sore when I finally chose to wake up the next morning. I sat up in bed, holding my side as I looked around. Oh, right. I'd forgotten I was in San Francisco now. That meant me talking with Mom last night hadn't been a dream, either. And that meant the others were here, too. I groaned to myself as I crawled out of bed; I didn't want to see them, didn't want to see anybody. The only reason I got out of bed was to make sure Xania was doing ok, as Mom had told me.

I thought about the peck on the cheek I thought I'd felt as I'd cried myself to sleep. I knew it was probably from Mom, but a part of me really wanted to believe that Michiko had briefly come back, to give me strength for what was to come. 'Cause I sure didn't feel that strong right now…

"Look who's up!" Linna exclaimed as I made my way to the kitchen, having followed the smells of breakfast being cooked. She came up to me and hugged me. I felt myself go stiff at the action; it felt unfamiliar, for some reason. "How are you feeling?" she asked, trying not to look put-off as she released me, sensing my unease.

"I've been better," I said.

"Are you hungry?"

"No."

"C'mon, Rosho, eat somethin'!" Xania called from the kitchen table. I gawked at her as she wolfed down a plate full of over-easy eggs and chugged her orange juice. "Sylia's quite the cook!"

"Xania?"

She grinned, the food stuffed into her cheeks. "She fixed me up too!"

"Yeah, Mom told me…"

Linna pushed on my shoulders to make me sit down. "You've been through a lot. The least you can do is keep your energy up! Sunny-side up, right?" I nodded slowly. "Ok. I'll go tell Sylia."

"I heard," Sylia replied from the stove, cracking two more eggs into the pan.

"I've never really seen you cook," I said.

"Everyone needs to know a few things around the kitchen, Yumeko."

"Did you really fix Xania's tail?"

"Yes, I did. You did a good job of taking care of her."

I just sat there as Mom and Nene came out of another room and sat down at the table with Xania and me while Linna helped Sylia cook up some sausages and make some toast. I looked around; my mom and my aunts, they were really all here, and they were talking with me like no time had passed at all, like I hadn't been in Sacramento for the past seven and a half months at all. They weren't skipping a beat. It still felt so unreal to me. Even Xania was more accepting of them being here than I was. One would think I'd have been over the moon to see them, and part of me was. But…what about the other part?

"I'm sorry that I'm not jumping up and down on the couch with happiness," I mumbled dryly as Sylia set my plate of sausage and eggs down in front of me.

"It's a shock, I'm sure," Sylia said, pouring a glass of orange juice. "It's understandable."

"It's just happening a little too fast for me…"

"We'll get you reacclimated to being around us again," Mom assured me. "You don't have to be Rocío Monterrey anymore. Not around us."

I picked at my eggs. "We were doing fine on the trip. I was promising Xania things would be ok, that SHE would be ok. I couldn't…keep that promise."

"You did your best," Nene said gently.

"You practically got yourself killed to keep me safe," Xania chirped. "I don't know anybody else who'd do that for me."

"I do it for everybody," I mumbled, dipping my toast in the runny yolk before I bit off a huge chunk. "I guess I'm what you'd call…what's the English word…fa…fatalistic?"

"Sounds about right."

"Perfect description of the purple Knight Saber," Nene joked.

Sylia looked around at everyone. "Could you all excuse us for a moment? I'd like to talk with Yumeko in private."

Linna and Nene nodded and stepped out for a moment, while Xania just sat there. "Can't I stay too?"

"No, Xania, this is between Yumeko and myself."

"Come on," Mom said, taking her out. It was just me and Sylia alone in the kitchen now. I had a feeling I knew what she wanted to discuss, and the first words out of her mouth confirmed my thoughts.

"I understand you're feeling guilty for killing those two men in Arizona."

"I thought they were Boomers," I said, my voice cracking. "And I know they would've killed me if I hadn't killed them first, but…it just makes me sick inside. How was I supposed to know they'd send actual humans after me?!"

"You didn't," she said simply, sitting down next to me. "You did what you had to do. You shouldn't need to question it."

"What about you? You killed Mason, right? How'd you deal with that?"

"I didn't question myself afterward. I knew I'd done the right thing. Your mother, Linna, Nene, and I had gone to Genom Tower, much like we're planning to do now. Mason was in his own battlesuit, and he managed to grab me and lift up my visor. I couldn't let him get away knowing who I was."

"What did you do?"

"I stabbed him through the throat."

"You…" I felt nauseous all over again. "You stabbed him through…"

"Yes," she said, nodding. "But it was in self-defense, just like when you blew up the car with those two men inside. I didn't have time to second-guess myself. It's instinct to protect yourself and those around you, and that's exactly what you did. You shouldn't feel ashamed or guilty for it. You and Xania are still alive, and that's all that matters. It doesn't matter if they were human or Boomer; they were still a threat to you. And you acted appropriately."

"Genom's not…gonna try to take revenge for me doing that?"

She shook her head, almost smirking at the thought. "The loss of two men is nothing to them, especially low-ranking ones like the two chasing you and Xania. They as well as Genom underestimated you, and that's why they sent a Combat Boomer after you last night."

"To make sure to get the job done…"

"Yes."

"But why come after me? Why not just keep this in Tokyo and try to take you guys out instead? Not to sound crude or anything…"

"I know what you mean, but they're targeting you because they know your real identity, and you're young, simple as that. You don't have the experience we do. And they know we're going to be protective of the youngest Knight Saber, and know that at least one person in the group is liable to go insane should that youngest Saber have something happen to her."

"Why'd they torture Mom to get her to tell them where I was if they already knew about the VIN?"

"They didn't. It wasn't something they'd considered until after the attack on Priss. We didn't realize they'd found you until two nights ago…the night those two men came after you. Mackie contacted us in New York, and we came out here as soon as we could."

"What were you doing in New York?" I asked.

"The others and I have been going around the world undercover, gathering testimony from the survivors of the summit. Some, we had to pay to talk to us, and others talked freely. We sent Priss off in another direction to keep Genom distracted; she went around the world herself, under the guise of recording a cover album. And to be sure no one got suspicious of anything, she actually recorded one."

"What about…the situation in Tokyo? I mean, if Boomers came out and the Sabers didn't…"

"We came up with automated hardsuits, with everyone's moves programmed into them. It was another tactic to throw Genom off, to make them think we were still in Japan doing our thing while we, the real ones, have been traveling."

"But then you met up in New York and Mom talked with that ambassador guy."

"Yes. We gave her a disguise. The ambassador knew he was talking to Priss Asagiri, the singer, but for security's sake we had him call her Kiri in person. We couldn't take the chance of anyone knowing they were talking, especially Genom."

"So what about this raid on the Tower here? Are we going to kill Madigan?"

"No. That's not the plan. It's simply a warning. We're going to go over there and tell her that we have enough information to bring Genom to its knees. And while that's going on, Nene is going to be busy sending out said information, to the U.N., the AP, all the major news feeds, everywhere."

"…From inside?!"

Sylia nodded. "Genom, of course, has a very extended network. If Nene can hack into that network, it would be simple to just send out our evidence with one push of a button."

I started to smile. "…I like that idea."

"Would you like to come with us to Genom Tower, Yumeko?"

"Wh…me?! But I'm the one they want!!"

"And you're going to be in your hardsuit. It's much easier to deal with a regular human being than someone in a hardsuit. But even so, your injuries could be a liability."

"I feel fine."

"Still, I'd rather not take any chances. Which is why we're not going to the Tower until tomorrow night. We'll give you some time to heal up, and perhaps get used to your hardsuit again."

"I don't…" I started to stammer. "I don't want to go out."

She leaned in close to me. "Yumeko, if everything goes as planned, this will be your last outing in your hardsuit. And I know you're not the type to want to sit around doing nothing. The Knight Sabers would greatly appreciate your help."

"…I DO want to see Madigan face-to-face, and make her pay for what she did to Michiko…and to Mom…" I admitted.

"You need to be prepared. They're not going to just let us walk in. We're going to need our Motoslaves, at the very least. You need to prepare for a major fight."

"I'll be ready for it," I swore. "I've…I've had enough of this hiding! I want to be able to walk outside and not be scared somebody's gonna shoot me dead in the street!"

"Are you in?"

"I'm in!"

"Good." She smiled. "You are your mother's daughter. And we're all glad to have you back."

Sylia let everyone else come back into the kitchen. My food was cold now, but now I had my appetite back, at least, so I didn't care. I could feel my heart thump in my chest as Mom and the others congratulated me on wanting to join them in this final battle. Sylia knew me too well; she knew I'd want to take revenge, not just sit around and let everyone else do the work, not just sit back while everyone else could get hurt.

I'd done that before. It was not something I would let repeat itself.

"Cool! I'll get to see you in your armor!" Xania exclaimed. "Hey, can I get a hardsuit too?! I wanna fight too!"

"Uh, no. You can play cheerleader."

"Cheerleader?! Screw that!"

I just laughed, while Nene went into the other room to turn on the TV. "C'mon, Xania. I'm a professional gymnast, and even I needed a month of training before I was ready to go into battle!"

"Training? What, you can't just go out there and fire away?"

"It's…a little more complicated than that."

"Hey!!" Nene yelled from the main room. "Come look at this!"

We all ran into the living room to see what she was yelling about, with Sylia walking calmly behind us. The room fell quiet just as I heard the announcer say, "—'s dead in a fire that broke out at the Walton condominium building where he had a residence…" On the screen was a shot of said condo building, with one of the higher floors up in flames.

"Bloody hell!" Mom cursed out loud, at the same time a picture of the dead man appeared on the screen.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"That," she said, jabbing her finger at the screen, "was the ambassador in New York!"

"Genom knew," Nene said almost in a whisper.

"His testimony is what our evidence is riding on," Linna sighed.

"We have his testimony recorded," Sylia reminded them. "His voice will still help us out, but we'll need to make our move quickly…before they find out we, and Priss, are here in San Francisco."

"The word of a dead man," Mom spat. "That'll make for some drama, huh?"

-----

It was safe to assume that the fire that broke out in the ambassador's condo wasn't just due to an electrical short, as the news outlets throughout the day had been reporting. Us being Knight Sabers, we knew we couldn't take that at face value. The fact that Mom had just spoken with him two nights ago probably had something to do with his untimely death. Genom must've found out somehow that he'd spilled the beans to Mom, regardless of whether they knew the pink-haired lady who'd talked with him was actually her. Still…it was unnerving, to say the least.

They spent the morning going over the evidence they had gathered, and at one point, in the afternoon, Sylia and Mom had me listen to the dialogue from that night, about the ambassador worrying that 'his city' would suffer more than the Knight Sabers would if he just kept his mouth shut about the whole thing. It made me sick. No one would care about a vigilante group anyway, he had said; the twenty-odd million people in and around New York City mattered more. From that vantage point, I could almost understand his reasoning, and if it wasn't for the fact I WAS one of the people in that vigilante group, I would've agreed with him.

"He took the fall instead of havin' the city do it," Xania mused. "Admirable, and fuckin' stupid, but hey, I never did understand politics very well."

"There's not much to question," Linna said. "He was paid for his silence and cooperation. If he opened his mouth, he would disappear and the city would go without those extra funds Quincy promised him."

"His condominium was probably bugged," Sylia theorized. "Which is why I had Priss go in under an alias. Of course, even though she divulged very few details about herself, it wouldn't be hard to figure out that Kiri was really Priss, and the daughter she referred to was Yumeko."

"The five-day coma reference alone would do it," I grumbled. "Does this push up your plan at all, Sylia?"

"For our 'visit' to Genom Tower? No, it's still planned for tomorrow night. But if any other details about what Genom knows comes to light, we may have to push it up, yes. But for right now, we just have to wait."

"The fact I disappeared from the hotel all of a sudden would give away that you guys are here though."

"Which is why I had Nene delete you from the motel files, and which is why we took your motorcycle and your bags with us."

"In hope that Genom might think the sent the Boomer to the wrong motel? That's hard for me to swallow."

"Just to throw them off track," Nene mumbled from the corner of the living room, where a computer console was set up. She looked busy typing in commands of some sort as she watched some footage on the monitor. "I don't expect it'll throw them off for long, if at all."

"What're you doin'?" Xania asked, standing up to look over her shoulder. "Hey, Rosho! It's you!"

"Huh?" I said.

"Don't look at that," Mom warned. "It's…"

It was too late. Xania gasped and jumped back, putting her hands to her mouth. "Holy shit!"

"I told you…"

"What is it?" I asked, only to almost retch in my spot when I saw what Nene was viewing. "…What the hell are you looking at THAT for?!" I demanded. "Do you like seeing blood spurting out of me or what?!" She was looking at the summit footage recovered from the Boomer's head…and was watching me get cut across the stomach. I'd seen that footage once, and it turned my stomach knowing I hadn't just been watching someone else. It was me…and dammit, I remembered that moment…

"I'm not a masochist," Nene replied without looking away from the screen. "In that way, anyway. This is part of what we'll be turning over to the U.N., but with a twist."

"What sort of twist?" I didn't like the way she'd phrased that…

"Look." With the press of a button, she replayed it. I saw myself get cut again, and I held my stomach at that moment. The Boomer broke my faceplate and began to hit me over and over, but when I looked at my exposed face…it wasn't my face at all.

"What the hell?"

"It's just a jab at Madigan. And plus it hides your face." She played it in slow motion, and indeed, I hadn't been seeing things. Instead of my face contorted in pain, it was Madigan's.

"That's awesome," Mom said, starting to laugh.

"You put her face over mine?!" I inquired.

"Yup!" Nene affirmed, laughing herself. "Actually, I altered it to look like hers."

"It looks just like her!" Linna remarked.

"I've had to do each frame precisely, to make sure not a single one had Yumeko's real face. Painstaking work, but from the looks of it, nobody will be able to tell it was altered at all. People know Madigan isn't really a Saber, but I think they'll get a kick out of it. And it keeps Yumeko's identity safe too."

"…I was wondering what we were gonna do about that footage," Mom admitted. "I thought the ambassador's dribble from the other night would've been enough."

"Our case has to be waterproof. No leaks of any kind. His testimony was good, Priss, but that alone isn't going to be their undoing," Sylia pointed out. "Nene, is everything done?"

"Sure is."

"Get it uploaded to your suit then."

"I'm on it."

"Sylia, I didn't ask, but…where ARE we?!" I asked. "I know we're in San Francisco, but…"

She smiled. "I do business all around the world. This place is where I reside while I'm here on business, and I rent it out on occasion to clients or business partners who are also here and don't like to stay in a hotel. It offers more privacy than a hotel would, and I also have a place on the roof to keep the KnightWing at."

"I bet you never anticipated having to bring it here though."

She nodded, admitting as much. "No, I didn't. But I do have a license for a private plane. The pad on the roof of the building, fortunately, is big enough to accommodate the KnightWing."

"Thank God for Plan B's, then, huh?"

"They're called contingency plans, but yes…"

"So what's the plan?" Mom interrupted. "How're we gonna invade the Tower?"

Sylia, as always, was prepared. She took a rolled-up piece of paper out of a nearby bag, and spread it out across the living room table. It was a layout of Genom Tower, or the one here, at least. "As you may already know, there are shafts in several parts of the Tower," she explained, pointing them out. "Our first plan of action is to send two of you – Yumeko and Nene – up into that shaft and make a hole so we can gain entrance. A third, Linna, will act as a lookout of sorts while Priss and I fend off Boomers on the outside as we make our own way up the sides of the Tower."

"So I'm guessing I gotta help Nene get to a computer so she can upload the stuff we've got?" I asked.

"That's right. Priss and I will enter the tower through the summit and confront Madigan."

"But it's not her regular Tower, so how do you know where she's gonna be?"

"She'll come to us," Mom mused. "She's ballsy like that."

"Anyway," Sylia said, coughing to get herself back into the conversation, "when Yumeko, Nene, and Linna are done sending out our package, you three will head to the rendezvous point."

"Where's that?" I asked.

"She's getting to that," Linna said, nudging me gently.

"Alcatraz Island," Sylia finished.

"But you and Mom can't face Madigan by yourself. She's probably gonna have a horde of Boomers ready to come after you," I said.

"That's why we're bringing our Motoslaves too," Mom interjected. "But if there's trouble, we'll call."

"You promise?" I groaned.

"Yes, Yume. It's not gonna turn out like that again."

"Why can't we just face 'em at some neutral location?"

"Sometimes, Yumeko, it's best to face someone on their home turf, so to speak," Sylia said. "And you forget they do not know the Knight Sabers are in San Francisco. This will catch Madigan off guard."

"Not if she knows you're the ones who made me disappear from that motel," I said, groaning again.

"Excuse me," Xania interrupted, "but where am I gonna be while you're all kickin' ass?"

"Here," Nene said nonchalantly. "For you, the best place to be is right here."

"Aww, that's no fun though." She slapped her tail down in frustration.

"We'd rather have you bored and safe than 'entertained' and half-dead."

"You'd just end up being used as a pawn if you came along with us and ended up being captured," Linna agreed. "It wouldn't help us having to worry about your safety while we're out."

"But Rosho's goin' along with ya."

"She can hold her own. And she has a suit. You don't."

"Oh, sure, bring THAT up."

"Xania," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "they're right. You're better off here. This is something the Sabers gotta do. No need to involve ordinary people."

"Rosho…"

"Besides…it's not gonna be boring. Spring break's already been one hell of a ride, huh? And plus, you're hanging around the Knight Sabers! If that's boring to you, I dunno what your idea of fun is."

"But I wanna do somethin'."

"Stay safe. That's what I want you to do. I couldn't do that for you on my own, but with my mom and the others here, it'll be much easier to do."

"You suck at consolation, you know."

"She'll bring you back a souvenir from the Tower if you want," Mom joked.

"Really?!" Xania exclaimed. I almost fell down in surprise.

"Uh, yeah, sure, a Boomer head, a lock of Madigan's hair, maybe even a genuine Genom Tower snowglobe," I quipped.

"No, no…that's alright," she said. "I just…want YOU back, Rosho. That's all I want. You comin' back would be the best souvenir of all."

"You have a gift for corniness."

She bowed. "Thank you."

"That wasn't corny to me," Linna said. "But we do have some planning to do. We may as well get to it."

_Planning?_, I thought, looking down at the blueprint that still lay spread out on the table. _You can plan all you want, but this is Genom we're gonna face head-on now. No amount of planning is gonna prepare for what could happen tomorrow night. But that's all right. If things go differently, maybe I'll get to see Madigan myself, and give her a piece of my mind, and her own set of scars while I'm at it._

Now there was a person I wouldn't mind killing. Not at all.

-----

4 PM. That's what the clock said when I went back to the room that had been temporarily declared my bedroom; it was the place I found myself in last night, after all. I stretched my arms and legs, wincing when unknown bruises squealed in protest. I was stiff…I needed to loosen up, somehow. And there was only one way to do it, besides beating at the wall.

I closed my eyes and put myself into the infinity stance. Tai chi wasn't something I normally did outside of my sessions with Kenneth, but I figured it was worth a shot. Closing my eyes, I raised and lowered my arms slowly, at the same time drawing in and letting out a long breath. Keeping them closed, I started on part one of the form, moving slower than usual through it so as not to aggravate any more bruises.

Starting on part two, I found myself freezing in position. Something was in my way.

"Oh, you're good," Linna complimented as I opened my eyes. Sure enough, I was mere inches from smacking my arms right into her. "You must practice a lot to be able to sense I was standing there."

"Not really," I mumbled. "I could just feel someone watching."

She beckoned me to sit down on the bed next to her. I did so, rubbing my shoulders to get the last of the kinks out of them. "So what do you want?" I asked.

Linna just looked at me and smiled. "…You've grown," she observed.

"I think my growth spurt ended when I was fourteen."

"I don't mean like that. I mean emotionally. You're not…the child you were when you joined up with us back then. Although I'm not so sure that's a good thing."

"Why not?"

"I can see it in you, Yumeko. You don't want this. You never wanted this. You just want to go back to how things were before, just being…a daughter to Priss, a friend to Michiko, a bully to Masahiro…" The latter made me crack a smile. "And I know that must be hard for you. You had to grow up really fast, and now you've…seen things in the world that most people will never see. But we're in a unique position right now, to set things right in the world, to make Genom pay for what they did, what they've done."

"You really believe that crap?" I inquired. "Even if this goes well…you really think Genom's just gonna say sorry and that they'll never do it again?"

"You know I'm not that naïve. I know they're not going to face up to any of it. There might be a years-long process of deciding what to do with the package we'll be giving to the U.N. The impact could be immediate, and maybe it won't be felt until your grandchildren are grown, but…something's gotta happen with this. People have lost too much…for this to just go on!"

I could see tears behind Linna's eyes. It wasn't a sight I was used to seeing. "You…feel bad about something?"

She nodded. "I do, yes. You know, after Boh had attacked you…I didn't see the parallel right away, but when I did, it haunted me for a while."

"Parallel? To what?"

"My friend Irene. In '32, there was an explosion at a Genom factory. Her fiancé was killed, and she swore to expose the cover-up behind it. One night, I'd taken her shopping to cheer her up, and we'd parted ways. That's when a Boomer in a car tried to run me down while I was making a call in a phone booth. I got away, but then it went after Irene. I ran after the car, but by the time I caught up…" She lowered her head and put one hand over her mouth. "It had just killed her…and it dropped her off an overpass…"

_I've heard that name,_ I thought. _When, when…_ "Oh! You've mentioned her before!" I gasped. "My first hologram training session…you and Mom fought over you mentioning her friend Sylvie…"

"I'd forgotten about that," she said, smirking wearily. "Yes, that's her. Anyway…the attack on you by Boh just reminded me of that."

"You did save me though."

"Yes…" She lifted up her head again. "Priss said she had you show her your scars. Don't worry, I won't ask for you to do that again," she interrupted when I opened my mouth to protest. "Physical ones aren't the problem…not with you anyway. I'm more worried about what's going on in here." She tapped my temple, the one that wasn't bandaged up.

"Irodia suggested that when I first came here," I said. "I told her I'm not seeing any shrinks. I still don't want to."

"I'm not saying that. You can open up to any of us. We'll be here."

"You say that after I haven't been able to do it at ALL for the past SEVEN months…" I spat, crossing my arms in defiance. "I'm all right."

"You're still feeling guilty about Michiko! You're NOT all right!" she protested.

"It's not your problem! And so what if I am?! Of course I am!!"

"You shouldn't feel that way. You know you couldn't have known what was going to happen that night. That's the beauty, and pain, of hindsight. We've all learned that the hard way. And besides, you can use it as a motivator tomorrow night."

"What?"

"You're still upset about Michiko…so take it out on the Boomers, on Genom. As long as you don't get in over your head, anger can be a big motivator in fighting. Priss's used it plenty of times, I know I've used it once or twice…and it's also part of why Sylia formed the Knight Sabers to begin with. Anger and revenge…that's what makes this world of ours go 'round, I hate to say. But it's a good weapon to use…as long as you don't rely on it alone."

"But even killing Boh wasn't enough," I moaned. "I just want to kill him over and over again for what he did! But every scenario I come up with in my head is too good for him!"

"You did kill him, and how you did it is going to have to be enough. He did suffer, from what I've heard. You got the revenge you wanted, so why isn't it enough? Nothing else you do is going to bring her back."

"I KNOW I can't bring her back!!! But it's not fair!! I'm just still so…so pissed off!! I'm fucking PISSED! And I don't know what to do!!!" I banged my fists on the bed in frustration.

"Fight with us," she said simply. "And if you still feel that way after our trip tomorrow night, we can deal with it then." Linna then took a moment to chuckle to herself. "You never dropped F-bombs before. I think Xania is rubbing off on you just a little too much."

"What? I didn't…" I thought for a second. "Oh…I guess I did, didn't I?"

"Am I gonna have to wash your mouth out before we head out tomorrow?" I heard Mom joke. Both Linna and I turned and looked, seeing her standing there in the doorway. "You started cursing early on, but I never heard you say THAT."

"It's not a big deal, is it?!"

"No. It's just a surprise." She sat down and handed me a CD with no label on it. "Pop it in the stereo."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's one of the songs me and the band worked on in New York."

I popped it into the stereo, and immediately I was greeted with random chitchat, grinning as I recognized the voices of Max and Hiroshi. "What did they say when you had to leave to come here?" I asked.

"I just said I had a family emergency. They knew you were out of town taking a breather, and when I said that, they just said go." Mom pointed at the stereo again, so we all hushed up and lent an ear to the conversation going on.

"Yo, Priss, you think you got the English pronunciation down alright?" I could hear Max joke in the background.

"I got it, I got it," Mom said.

"We all ready?" Hiroshi asked, followed by the sound of a guitar being tuned.

"Yup!" Max bellowed.

"Think it'll be alright on guitar 'stead of piano like the original?"

"It's a cover. We have free reign," Mom joked. "It'll be rockin' at the end though. People won't be disappointed."

"Like you ever gave a rat's ass about that," Hiroshi laughed.

"Oh, shaddap!" More laughter, then a few coughing sounds and the sound of an acoustic guitar – or at least one that sounded acoustic – softly began. And then came Mom's voice. In English, no less.

"_I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears, and if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave, because your presence still lingers here and it won't leave me alone._"

"_My Immortal_!" I gasped, chuckling when I heard a "Whoo!" in the background as the verse ended, from who sounded like Max.

"_These wounds won't seem to heal…this pain is just too real…there's just too much that time cannot erase. When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears. When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears, and I've held your hand through all of these years, but you still have…all of me._"

"I know the song…but I never thought you'd choose it to make a cover of, never mind make a cover album to begin with," I admitted.

"Couldn't just pay lip service to the public," she quipped. "Had to have something to show for it. Now listen."

The second verse started. "_You used to captivate me by your resonating light, but now I'm bound by the life you left behind._"

"You got it!" Hiroshi cheered.

"Heh! _Your face, it haunts my once-pleasant dreams. Your voice, it chases away all the sanity in me._" And the chorus started again. "_These wounds won't seem to heal…this pain is just too real…there's just too much that time cannot erase. When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears. When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears, and I've held your hand through all of these years, but you still have…all of me._"

Immediately following was the next line, without the overlap that would have been on the final mix of the recording. "_I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone, and though you're still with me, I've been alone all along._"

True to her word, heavier, more rocking instruments joined in, and after a few bars, Mom sang the chorus again, and as the chorus reached the end, the other instruments faded out, leaving just the acoustic guitar that had been playing alone for most of the song. With the last few notes, Max and Hiroshi both let out loud hoots and cheered.

"One more time, then we do it for real!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

"For real?! Aw c'mon, that was real," Mom joked.

"That was practice!" Max teased. "Let's see if you can do the English without your notes there!"

"Why did you do that song?" I asked as I stopped the CD, finding tears running down my face. How stupid, to cry to a song. This wasn't like me at all.

"I like the song," she said plainly. "Plus it's a classic, and given all that's gone on with us the past couple years—"

"Yeah. I got that part," I interrupted.

"…Looks like it hit a raw note with you."

"You THINK?!" I wiped the drops from my cheeks. "There's some songs I still can't listen to 'cause they remind me of Micchan. That was one of 'em!"

"You could've stopped the CD," she pointed out.

"I just…wanted to see how you'd interpret the song…that's all."

"It's ok to admit you have feelings, you know, Yume."

"I do, I just don't like showing 'em in front of everybody."

"You don't even like showing 'em to yourself! I know you; hell, I better! You're my kid! I know it's been almost eight months since we've been in the same room, but if I didn't know that, I would say you're the exact same way you were the day you left Tokyo. Still bitter, still pissed at the world. You haven't dealt with anything!"

"I'll deal with it when I get back in my suit!!" I snapped. "Perfect time to do it!!"

"That'll be sooner than you thought," Sylia suddenly said.

Linna, Mom, and I all snapped our heads in the direction of the doorway. There stood Sylia and Xania, with Xania looking somewhat confused. "You guys ok?" she asked.

"We're fine," I huffed. "And what did you mean when you said it might be sooner than I thought, Sylia?"

"I mean that Genom has been very resourceful, despite Nene's efforts. They're aware that it was a Knight Saber who killed that Boomer last night, and that we spirited you and Xania away. To make sure they don't find out exactly where we are, we're going to have to act quickly. The attack on Genom Tower is set for tonight."

"…Tonight?!"

"So much for another day to get ready," Linna sighed. "Do you still think you can handle it, Yumeko?"

"What? My suit? Sure," I replied evenly. "It's like riding a bike. Or walking."

No one laughed at my joke. Then again, I hadn't meant it as a joke, either.

-----

I sighed as I looked down at the folded black-and-pink garment sitting in my lap. My innerwear…it had been so long since I'd put it on. Part of me even wondered if I'd still be able to fit into it; I knew I'd put on some muscle during my time in Sacramento, and I remembered all too well how damn tight it could be. I groaned as I stood up and stripped off my clothes, piece by piece, leaving only my leg sleeve on as I shoved one foot in, followed by the other, followed by the usual struggling to get the thing over my hips. Before long, I was fastening the back and looking myself over. It was snug, but it fit. Xania wolf-whistled.

"You're lookin' fine, girl!" she complimented. "I guess I never thought about what you wore under your suit."

"Well, we're not naked, at least."

"That your suit?" She nodded over to the purple hardsuit sitting nearby, waiting for someone to don it.

"Yeah…it is." I watched as Mom and Linna stepped into their suits. Nene and Sylia were already in theirs, sans helmets.

"So put it on! I wanna see you in it."

"This isn't a modeling show. We're going into battle," I grumbled.

Sylia walked over to us, her helmet under her arm. "Xania, you need to get back inside. We're ready to head out."

"I can't stay in here?" she asked, referring to the KnightWing, which was pretty much the only safe spot to put our suits on at. Couldn't just walk out onto the roof of the building from inside wearing the damn things.

"No," she said firmly. "You're safer inside the building. And remember, if anyone comes knocking on the door, don't answer unless you know for sure it's one of us."

"Okaaaay," Xania groaned. "But can I see Rosho in her suit first?"

Sylia sighed and looked at me, nodding. I nodded back and walked over to my suit. Stepping backward into it, I closed my eyes as I felt the arm and leg armor close itself over my limbs, followed by the chest armor swinging down and latching tight over my torso. I opened my eyes and looked down; my body was enclosed in its purple hardsuit, once again.

"That's…awesome," Xania breathed as she glanced at me, her eyes looking up and down my figure as I opened and closed the wings on my suit.

"How's this then?" I inquired, popping out the lasersword on my right arm. She jumped and yelped.

"Shit! That was quick!"

"It has to be. Boomers don't wait for you to get ready." I withdrew it. "There are no rules in fighting Boomers. They'll fight dirty, they'll kick you when you're down, they'll do anything to make sure you stop moving, but it's our job to make sure they're the ones who stop moving."

"Well…somebody's gotta do it, right?"

"Yeah, and that somebody is us."

"It's time," Sylia reminded everyone, walking into the cockpit. A moment later, the engines in the plane began to roar.

"You have to go," I urged gently.

"Rosho," she whispered, "you gotta…come back, ok?"

"I will, but you need to go."

Mom led her to the end of the plane, which was still open. "I'll protect her," she promised. "Don't worry about her."

Xania nodded and walked off, taking a moment to wave to me first before the plane closed up. I waved back.

The plane took off, and Sylia's building was quickly left behind, with us heading for our destination…Genom Tower, San Francisco style. As far as I was concerned, all Genom Towers were the same: modern-day Towers of Babel that seemed to reach to the sky. Sylia was quick to explain that each of them were slightly different in look, and that while the one in Tokyo was the biggest of all, all were still considerable in size. The one here in San Francisco was considered one of the 'lesser' Towers, with the ones in Los Angeles and New York City being the major ones on the North American continent. Still, we had to be on our guard in regards to approaching this Tower. It was still a Genom Tower, after all, and it was unlikely anyone could just walk in, at least not without half-a-dozen Boomers on their ass.

"Priss and I will scale the Tower first," Sylia said. "Linna, Nene, and Yumeko will not begin their assault until we are two-thirds of the way up the tower. Unless we send out an SOS, do not come and assist us." I had the feeling she was directing that last message at me. "When I give the signal, you three will head for the western shaft with your Motoslaves. I have equipped each of them with three bombs similar to Priss' S-Bombs. Use them to gain access into the Tower through the shafts."

While Sylia continued on her lecture, repeating details she'd gone over earlier in the day, I looked out the window, in the direction of the Tower. It was strange; I couldn't recall seeing it when I'd first arrived in the States. Maybe the other lights of the city had drowned it out…or maybe I'd just blocked it out. It was definitely something I didn't want to see, not when it was Genom I had come here to escape from to begin with. And here we were, heading right for it. I could feel my chest tightening up, but I tried to ignore the feeling. It wouldn't do any good to give in to it, to let myself have a panic attack right at the moment when I couldn't afford one. But I was nervous, and I had the feeling that Mom and the others were too. But they didn't show it.

"Sylia rebuilt Monsoon?" I finally asked when the lecture was over, walking over to Mom.

"She sure did," Mom replied. "You sound surprised."

"Well, I…guess I didn't consider it. Monsoon blew up, after all."

"Doesn't mean she can't rebuild it though. I went through a few Motoslaves myself. There's a reason my Typhoon III has a III after it."

"So is mine Monsoon II?"

"No. It's still got all the exact same weaponry and looks the original did."

I smiled. "I admit…I did like fighting with that thing."

"And you'll get another chance tonight," she agreed.

"And I get to use mine," Nene interjected. "It's not often that I need to use it, but tonight's a special event, I guess."

"We need all the firepower we can get," Linna said. "Can't take any chances, not tonight."

"Priss!" Sylia called out. "Get ready. You and I are heading down in ten minutes."

"Roger!" Mom called back. "Damn, sooner than I thought…"

"Are you…gonna be ok?" I asked. "You're still hurting…"

Mom put a hand on my shoulder and offered me a kind smile, one I hadn't seen in a long time. "Yume, I'd be hurting more if we didn't do anything. This is something. After this is done, my pain's gonna be the last thing I'll be paying attention to. What about you?"

"My ribs feel alright, but like you said, I'm not gonna have time to think about it. I just want to…kill as many Boomers as I can."

"That's my girl."

I returned the smile. "Let's just…get the job done and get the hell out of there. I don't wanna stick around there any longer than necessary."

"I don't either," she agreed, walking over to Typhoon III, which was in its bike form, "but we dunno how long 'necessary' is gonna be."

"We'll do what we have to," Linna said as Mom put on her helmet. "Try not to overanalyze this. Get in, give Nene time to do her thing, and get out. It's that simple."

Linna definitely had a gift for putting things simply, even if things were far from simple. Giving Nene time to 'do her thing' would probably require battling at least half a dozen Boomers, keeping them away from her while at the same time also wondering if Sylia and Mom were doing THEIR thing. I wished things were as simple as she put it, but…things are never simple in life. They're just not.

I popped out my lasersword again and stared at my reflection in the shining metal. Such a deadly weapon…and so beautiful at the same time. It seemed to be longer than I remembered, but then again, it had been a while since I was last in my suit. A very similar weapon had almost killed me last spring, and looking back now, I was revolted, as I had been back then, at how the enemy could possess a weapon like mine. Sure, Sylia had her own pair, but until you have a version of your own weapon used against you, you just don't realize how deadly it really is. I'd made liquids spray from a Boomer's body upon slicing it with my sword, but when I saw MY blood…gush out of MY body… I shook my head, trying to dispel the image from my mind; it wasn't something I liked to remember. The whole episode was forgettable, if only for the sake of my sanity.

_So sharp,_ I thought in awe, gazing at the edge. I'd felt that edge several times, and such was the beauty of hindsight that only now could I realize what power I held right now. I had never considered myself a superhero of any type, although Xania would be the first to say the Knight Sabers were just that. And since I didn't believe in fate, maybe one could've said I was, perhaps, a victim of circumstance. But so was everyone here…

"Are you ok?" Nene asked, her voice piercing me. I looked up and turned to her.

"Uh…yeah. I'm ok."

"It's just…the way you were looking at your sword…I was hoping you weren't getting any crazy ideas."

"No, no, I'm not." I lowered my arm and withdrew the sword. "I was just…" I trailed off, finishing in my head. _Just realizing how easily it can slice into human flesh._

Sylia emerged from the cockpit and climbed onto her own Motoslave. "Linna, open it up."

"Roger!"

The back of the plane opened up again, and I had to blink several times as the sudden gust of wind that came up into the cabin blew my hair back and got in my eyes. "The plane is on autopilot," Sylia said. "I have a course preprogrammed into it, so none of you will need to take the controls. Priss and I are heading down, and as I said, when I give the word, you three will head for the shaft on the west side. Are any of my previous instructions unclear in any way?"

"We hear you, Sylia," Linna responded.

"Good luck!" I called out.

Mom saluted. "We'll see you later!" she called back.

"Let's go, Priss," Sylia said.

"Right."

The grey Knight Saber and the blue Knight Saber both started up their motorcycles, and in a flash, both sped down the ramp and off the end, disappearing down into the city. Once the ramp was closed, I ran to the nearest window to see if I could see them. We were too far up to be able to see anybody individually, but at the base of Genom Tower, as the plane made a fly-by, I could see two lights beginning the trek up the road winding around the Tower.

"…Do it," I whispered.


	6. San Francisco treat

"Priss! What do your scanners say?" Sylia shouted over the comm. We were both going up the Tower road at well over a hundred miles per hour, and from what my scanners were saying, we were almost halfway up. I switched to Boomer Watch Mode and ran it for any signs of Combat Boomers.

"Coming up on this level here are a half-dozen guardian Boomers."

"They pose no threat. Don't worry about them. I would rather you take care of the three BU-33Bs coming this way."

Said Boomers popped up on my HUD as well. We'd be coming into contact with them in five seconds. "Roger that!" I sent the signal to Typhoon III to transform, and it lifted up and encased me inside it just as the Boomers came barreling towards Sylia and me. I jetted into the air and fired rapidly at the closest one, making several large holes in the shoulder and arms, but it seemed undeterred. Landing, I fired again, this time hitting it the head, making it explode in a geyser of orange fluids. The Boomer dropped to the ground, dead.

Sylia, in her Motoslave as well, was busy punching another one of the Boomers, over and over, until finally one punch went all the way through the Boomer's torso. With that one dead as well, that left only one. With both of us firing on it, it didn't stand a chance; there wasn't much left of it when we were done.

"We are getting up this tower," Sylia swore.

"I hear ya," I agreed wholeheartedly as we continued the trip up, this time in our Motoslaves. My heart was pounding now. The adrenaline was flowing. And this trip up the Tower, for some reason, wasn't nearly as hard as I had thought it would be. Of course, those thoughts didn't stay for long. Less than a minute later, more Boomers came up on my scanners. 55Cs, 12Bs, and more 33Bs, seemingly coming out of every spot on the Tower. They were even leaving other levels to come down and pay us a visit. "Well, well! That's a total of eighteen Boomers coming for us!"

"We need to separate from the Motoslaves," Sylia said. "Twelve of them are 55Cs, but we still need to even the odds."

Twelve 55Cs, four 12Bs, and two more 33Bs. Seemingly easy to take out by themselves, but the sheer number could overwhelm us, I hated to admit. I grunted acknowledgment and opened up the front of Typhoon III, letting myself drop to the ground and roll as Typhoon III flew over me and slammed head-on into one of the 12Bs. Jumping to my feet, I fired several needles into one of the 55Cs, followed by a Knuckle Bomber uppercut to the head. Sylia, meanwhile, had also separated from her Motoslave, and while it was on the ground taking on two 55Cs, she was airborne, with two more on her tail. She deactivated her wings, losing altitude, then reactivated them and sped up towards the Boomers, slicing one in half with her lasersword as she flew by. The other fired its mouth cannon at her, and Sylia did a mid-air roll to avoid it. In response as she righted herself, she fired several beam cannon blasts, two hitting it in the chest. Before it could recover, Sylia took the opportunity to use her lasersword again, this time to decapitate it. The body fell to the ground with a thud, the head going off the edge of the road and falling to the next level of the Tower below.

"Fourteen left," I growled.

"Priss, behind you!"

I ducked just in time to avoid having my head crushed by the fist of a 33B. I spun around and, powered by my jumpjets, delivered a kick to the Boomer's chin with my Leg Bombers. It opened up its chest, ready to fire its heat cannon at me, but instead of jumping or running out of the way like a sane person, I decided to try something different. I grinned like a maniac as I fired three needles into its open chest; the glow that had started then flickered and went dead. The Boomer let out a howl in anger, raging towards me. I ran towards it, letting us meet in the middle, and as it swung its melon-sized fist at me, I ducked again, slapping an S-Bomb onto the still-open chest.

"Sorry, no time to mess around today, you son of a bitch," I spat before jetting into the air, a ball of fire below me as I landed on the next level. I scanned for the number of Boomers remaining again; this time it was at twelve, meaning either Sylia or one of the Motoslaves had just killed another one too, in addition to the one I'd just defeated. The number dropped to ten once I saw Typhoon III grab two of the 55Cs and crush their skulls, orange fluids gushing all over its 'hands.' That left six 55Cs, three 12Bs, and one 33B.

I didn't have time to enjoy the light show going on as gunfire erupted on both sides; a 12B and a 55C detected me on the level above them and jetted up to meet me. I encountered the 55C first, and smirked as I greeted it with a Leg Bomber to the head. It staggered, then charged at me, which I answered with a charge of my own, blowing my arm right through its torso as I led with my Knuckle Bomber. It dropped to its knees and fell forward, dead. I exhaled and turned to face the 12B, which was just now arriving.

"You don't know what kind of mood I'm in tonight, do you," I said flatly, firing four needles into its cannon arm. They didn't penetrate through the other side, though. The Boomer responded by firing of a volley of rounds at my feet, making me run backwards to avoid them, to make sure my feet didn't get turned into Swiss cheese. While it was firing, I fired two more of my needles, striking it in the head, making it stop firing. I ran up and slapped another S-Bomb on it, again jetting into the air to get out of the way when it exploded, leaving Boomer parts strewn over that level of the Tower.

Looking at the road again, I saw Sylia and her Motoslave speed by. "Typhoon III is finishing off the last of them," she crackled over the comm. "Once it's done, follow me."

"Gotcha!"

I looked down and saw that all of the remaining Boomers, except for the one remaining 33B, were dead. Typhoon III and the Boomer were swinging at each other, as if they were in a boxing ring. I smirked as I aimed and fired three needles through its head. The Boomer growled and turned to look up at me, but it was too late; Typhoon III rammed its fist through its chest, and it dropped dead before it even knew what was happening. I jetted down and met up with it.

"Ok, you heard the boss. Let's keep going."

I climbed into the Motoslave and resumed the journey up the Tower, wincing when my stomach chose that moment to start hurting. "Dammit."

"What, Priss?" Sylia inquired over the comm.

"Nothin'. Just my stomach."

"It's almost time. This'll be over soon."

"I know."

I caught up to Sylia and her Motoslave just as another set of Boomers came up on my scanners. "Shit, we've got ten more coming our way," I growled.

"Roger that." And then she said it. "Green! Red! Purple! Move out!!"

-----

I jerked my head up when I heard Sylia's voice on the comm. It was so soon, though! Were she and Mom already two-thirds of the way up the Tower? "That's our cue!" Linna said, tossing her ribbons over her shoulders as she climbed onto her bike.

"It's too soon, isn't it?!" I asked, climbing onto my own as the ramp opened up.

"Whether it is or not, she just gave us the word. So let's do this."

Nene ran her scanner as she glanced outside at the Tower, which was right in front of us as we faced the outside of the ramp. "We're coming up on the western shaft!" she announced. She climbed onto her own bike as well. "Given our altitude, we'll need to revert to Motoslave form within five seconds of leaving the ramp. We all ready?"

"I'm ready," I said.

"Ok then," Linna said. All three bikes started up. "Let's go!"

Linna sped off the ramp first, with me and Nene close behind. Everyone activated Motoslave Mode, so in seconds, we were all encased in our respective Motoslaves, activating the jets so as not to fall straight onto the buildings below. And suddenly, off we were, flying right for Genom Tower. As we approached the shaft, suddenly I realized how narrow it was; I'd expected a much wider opening. It was probably ten, fifteen feet wide at most. Sort of a tight squeeze in my Motoslave, but I fit in by turning on my side in mid-air as we flew in.

Linna motioned for us to increase altitude, so we did, flying quickly up the shaft. My sensors said we were past the 50th floor, coming up fast on the 70th. "What floor do we need?" I radioed.

"81st," Nene responded. "Almost there…"

As luck would have it, several 55Cs came up on my scanners. The others noticed too, for Nene dropped altitude to confront one below, while Linna sped up to fight one coming from above. I could detect a panel in the shaft opening, and out of that came two more 55Cs. With Monsoon's bazooka, I quickly fired a hole in one of the Boomer's chests, and as that one fell, the other one came up to replace it. I smirked.

"It's so much easier in a hardsuit," I remarked, easily dodging when it fired its mouth cannon at me. I fired again, blowing off its right arm, fluids gushing out of the stump. Its jets fumbled for a moment as it attempted to recover, but once it did, I was already in its face, at least if it still had one once I knocked off the sucker's head.

I jetted up to assist Linna, but a dead Boomer dropping past me told me she'd already finished it up. I looked up again as she slapped something on the shaft wall. "Drop altitude, NOW!!" she ordered. Nene and I obeyed, flying down just as the S-Bomb-like thing she'd left on the side exploded, sending flames shooting down the shaft and out towards the opening. They got so close that I could practically feel the heat on my feet as I flew down. The flames then receded, letting us fly back up to what was now a new door into the Tower.

Linna stepped through the hole first, followed by Nene, then me. "No more Boomers are showing up," I said. "My scanners are clean."

"What's your status?" Sylia crackled over the comm.

"We've gained entry," Linna responded. "Searching for an outlet for the package now."

"Good. Priss and I are on the summit. Remember, just deliver the package and get out. Destroy any Boomers in the way, but do not harm any civilians."

"They're civilians, but they're hardly innocent," I said darkly.

"This is a delivery, not a search-and-destroy, Yumeko," Sylia said in a stern voice. "We can't afford to waste time. Go."

"Roger," I said, sighing as I disconnected. I sure wished I could trash the place, blow up everything in sight. That would be apt to send a message, but for some reason, I knew that it wouldn't be enough. The package would have to be the figurative and literal message.

"Does Madigan count as a civilian?" I inquired as we marched down the hallway.

"Don't get any ideas," Linna warned. "Sylia and Priss are going to have their piece with her, but unless they call for us, we need to do our bit first."

"Deliver Miss Daisy?"

"Yeah, something like that. You may think they're having all the fun, but we're the ones entrusted with the main part of the mission. We can't afford to get distracted."

"Well, Daisy here still needs an outlet," Nene said. "Turn right at the upcoming hallway. I'm detecting a spot up there that I think I can use."

Turning into another hallway, I could see a series of doors on both sides. My scanners picked up humans in all of them, but Nene seemed interested in the second door on the left. She pointed to it, and we all marched in, single-file, through the door.

"Out!!" Nene ordered. The eight people in the room gasped and all stood up, gaping as they looked at us.

"We're borrowing that giant computer behind you," I stated. "Unless you wanna get turned into slag, do what Red says and get the hell outta here."

They all fled, running past Nene and me, with Linna right behind them. "I'll keep watch," she said once they were gone. "You two, get Daisy into the system."

"I guess the nickname stuck," I half-joked as Nene climbed out of her Motoslave. She pulled out cords from underneath the torso of her suit and plugged them into the jacks in the computer, typing away like crazy. "So what first?"

"First, I need to find out what information they've got on us," she said without looking up from the keyboard. "Get rid of anything and everything. Weapons info, suit info, tactics…everything. And when I find the proof they've got that you and Priss are Knight Sabers, I'll get rid of that too. And I'll leave them a thank-you note for their efforts."

"What kind of thank-you note?"

I could hear her chuckle. "Next time they try to pull up any of this stuff, they'll be activating a virus that I created. They'll spend the next month untangling the mess that'll create."

"I don't know about computer viruses, but I'll take your word for it."

"It's strange how familiar this all is," she suddenly said. "It's a lot like the AD Police systems. The metal barricades are the same too."

"The what?"

At that moment, I heard several booming noises in the hallway, like something extremely heavy dropping to the floor. "I just dropped two of the metal barricades that lead to this hallway," she explained. "To prevent any visitors, so to speak. Anyway, Genom was the one who funded the ADP, so naturally a lot of the defenses in the ADP building were similar to what I'm observing in this tower. That would also mean nerve gas should be filling this room any time now."

True to her word, I saw several ceiling panels open up, spraying a strange-colored gas into the room. At the same time, filters opened up near the floor, sucking the gas away. "What the hell?" I remarked. "Did you just do that too?"

"Uh-huh, although it wouldn't do anything to us anyway. Our hardsuit filters would keep the stuff out of our bodies."

"So why bother sucking it out of the room?"

"Just a nuisance," she replied, making a few more taps on the keyboard. "Huh, how about that. There's even the daily reports from Boh in here."

"What?!" I climbed out of Monsoon and peeked over her shoulder. "What about that jerk?!"

"His reports on your movements. School, therapy, even what you ate for lunch. And here's the report for the search for your VIN also." She typed some more, reading aloud. "Traced to a Kawasaki Ninja located in Sacramento suburb, owned by Rocío Monterrey, age seventeen, based on physical description, almost certainly Yumeko Asagiri, also age seventeen, of MegaTokyo. Brown hair, red eyes, seen wearing blue sleeve on left leg, commonly seen with black-haired, blue-eyed female by the name of Bridget Peters, alias Xania, age nineteen as of 4/9/56, who has a cybernetic appendage similar in appearance to a tail."

"Son of a bitch," I swore.

"I've seen enough." One more keystroke and the document was gone. "I'd love to go through all these files, just to see what kind of information they have, but we don't have time. I'll just delete them all." Her fingers flew over the keyboard as the list of documents that came up in her search rapidly dwindled until there was nothing left but one thing. "Now, for the virus."

The only thing left on the list was a document called 030533PA.mp7. I couldn't see Nene's face, but I swore she was grinning like a madman. "You…know what that file name stands for, right?" I asked.

"I know," she said flatly. "Didn't escape my attention. But the next time anyone tries to view this…" She tapped once more on the keyboard. "They'll be getting this error message, without realizing that they've just corrupted their whole system." She pointed at the screen.

"File Error: Unable to Execute Operation. Initiating System Execution."

"A literal execution?" I asked curtly.

"Yup. And when they try to figure out what that means, by clicking on the 'Help' icon or whatever, the whole thing will jam up. And I've installed it along network lines too, so you don't need to open an e-mail to get this virus. Anything hooked up to this network will get it."

"But…if you could find the file in THIS Tower, then…who knows how many have seen it and figured out who the blue Saber is!"

"Simple. You need a password to view it. Not all of Genom's people can know all of Genom's secrets, after all. The people down at the bottom usually have no idea what goes on at the top, no idea just what Genom gets into, or if they do, only know the barest outline." She exited the screen. "Done!"

"Now we need to deliver Daisy."

"Right."

Nene worked so quickly that I almost had trouble keeping up with what she was doing; it didn't help matters that I couldn't read computer language, either. But based on the screens Nene pulled up, she was accessing Genom's e-mail database, and created a new e-mail address.

"Isn't that a little obvious?" I asked.

"Now what's wrong with _sanjo at genomindustries dot co dot jp_? It's appropriate, and once I access the address book and put in all the press addresses that're in there, plus any others I can think of, I'll get rid of it so no one can trace it."

"That would help, except the part after the 'at' is a dead giveaway."

"Don't worry," she said in a singsong voice. The 'To' and 'Cc' boxes filled up with all sorts of addresses, and after Nene typed in a few of her own and attached Daisy, she clicked 'Send.'

"…That was anticlimactic," I remarked.

"Sometimes missions are," she said.

"We've got company," Linna interrupted. "We've got Boomers on the other side of both barricades trying to get in."

I ran my scanner to see just how many there were. Behind the barricade on the left, the side we needed to go to get back to our entryway, there were five 55Cs; behind the right, seven. "This is gonna be a tight spot to fight in," I said, going out into the hallway where Linna, in her Motoslave, stood, bracing herself for the barricades to collapse.

"I'll lift the one on your left!" Nene called out. "That's the way we need to go to get out! I'll keep the other one shut as long as I can, but I don't know how long it will hold."

"That's fine," Linna said. "Yumeko and I can take five Boomers by ourselves. Right?"

"Right!" I affirmed.

I crouched down next to Linna, popping out my lasersword, bracing myself. Sure, it was only five Boomers, but in a hallway this small, there wasn't any room to fight. That forced me to rule out using my MDDs; didn't want them to end up hitting Linna. "Ready when you are."

"Lift it."

The barricade began to lift, immediately revealing five pairs of blue feet. When it was high enough to reveal their knees, I struck. Still crouched, I ran right for the one on the far left, the one closest to me. I rolled under the barricade, taking a swipe with my sword. It caught the Boomer through the right leg, cutting it clean off below the knee. I got to my feet and jumped, delivering a Knuckle Bomber right to the face. Its head exploded, and it dropped dead. Before the other Boomers could do anything, the barricade was lifted, and Linna began firing away with her Motoslave's guns. Two of the Boomers lunged at her, while the remaining two came my way.

"Wanna join your buddy? I can arrange that!" I said with a feral grin, bringing my other sword to bear. Both Boomers fired their mouth cannons, and I ducked as the wall above me exploded, raining down chunks of debris. By then, I was already on the move, delivering a Leg Bomber-charged roundhouse kick to one Boomer's head, followed by several swipes through its torso with my swords. I turned around just in time to see a fist heading for my face. With another swipe of the sword, the Boomer was now missing that fist, along with the lower half of its arm. It growled and opened up its heat cannons, preparing to blast me. With me only about a foot in front of the thing, that definitely wouldn't have been a good thing. Luckily, it didn't get the chance to use it. I swiped my sword again, cutting off its other arm, and while it growled again, I stabbed it in the chest with my left sword, finishing it off with another Knuckle Bomber to the head.

I looked in Linna's direction just in time to see her finish off her second Boomer. I looked around; the ground was littered with dead Boomers and Boomer parts, sections of the carpet stained with orange-colored fluids. I sniffed. "Well, that was fun."

"You'll get to have more too," she said, noting the other barricade. A large orange circle had now formed; the Boomers on the other side were trying to burn their way through. "It's not gonna hold up much longer. Nene! Come on! Let's go!"

"I can't log out now!" she called back. "The barricade'll open up!"

"They're burning a hole through it anyway! Come on!!"

"Pull the plug!" I yelled. "We're gonna be fighting 'em anyway!"

"Ok, ok. Get ready, then," she said with a sigh. "Three, two…"

After Nene said 'one,' the barrier, almost burned through anyway, lifted up, revealing seven more Boomers, just as my scanner had said. Two charged at Linna, while three of them went for the computer room. The remaining two were mine. I brought out both my swords and charged, running right between them with the swords held out at my sides. Both Boomers burst bright orange fluids from their sides as they were cut wide open. I did several back-handsprings, then a backwards aerial flip, kicking one Boomer in the head with my Leg Bombers, and while still in the air, despite my earlier reminder to myself, fired a disc at the other Boomer, decapitating it cleanly.

While Linna was busy with her Boomers, I ran back into the computer room. Monsoon had taken care of one Boomer and was fighting another, while Nene was fending off the third. Her Motoslave came to the rescue, firing several shots from its cannon at the Boomer, taking off its left arm at the shoulder and blowing a nice-sized hole in its chest. I went over and quickly finished it off, firing two of my discs through its chest. It dropped, landing next to another dead Boomer, and as I heard a loud boom behind me, I smirked; Monsoon had finished off the last one.

Gunshots in the hallway could be heard for several more seconds, then silence. "Ok," Linna said. "Whew. C'mon, let's get out of here. Mission accomplished."

"Right," Nene and I both said as we emerged from the computer room and followed Linna down the hallway towards the hole. We reached the hole, and no more Boomers were coming up on my scanner. The immediate threat was over.

"None hiding in the shaft," I said. "I think we're free to leave."

Linna jetted out first, followed by Nene, then Nene's Motoslave, and then Monsoon. I stayed for a moment, peeking out of the hole as I looked out at the shaft opening. I could barely make out San Francisco Bay, glittering faintly in the distance. That was where we had to rendezvous now. I sighed and smiled. It was a pretty sight.

I opened up my wings and jumped out, quickly taking to the air. The mission was over. We'd done our work, and now I was hoping Sylia and Mom would be done with theirs. Then we could go home, with this whole thing behind us. But those hopes would have to wait a little longer. They would have to wait until after I figured out what the hell had just slammed into my back, burning into it as one of my wings was taken clean off.

"What the…?!" I gasped aloud as I did a free-fall down the shaft, my jumpjets sputtering in a vain attempt to get me airborne again. Then, something grabbed me by the ankle, and I found myself dragged up the shaft again. That something then threw me right back through the hole we'd come out of, and I slammed into the wall, now back inside the Tower.

I coughed and got up on my hands and knees, wincing as my still-sore ribs had now been aggravated. Had I just dreamt all that? Wasn't I just flying out? What happened?!

"We've been awaiting you," a mechanical voice boomed. I looked up, my eyes almost bulging out of my head when I found myself being stood over by a three-meter-tall Boomer…with its own lasersword out, ready for the attack.

"Waiting for me? What for?" I demanded, slow to get to my feet. The Boomer kicked me in the ribs, sending me to the floor again.

"There's a meeting. And you're required to attend."

The last thing I saw before everything went black was a cannon blast hitting me square in the chest…and a sneering Boomer looking down on me.

-----

Sylia's and my footsteps echoed through the hallway as we made our way down towards the main office. After defeating the ten Boomers that had tried to sneak up on us, we'd blown our way into the Tower via the entrance on the summit, and here we were, about to have a little chat with Katherine Madigan herself.

"I know it's tempting," Sylia said, "but do not shoot her. All right? We're here to warn her only. Neither of us are to use our weapons unless the situation demands it."

"Right. Like she's just gonna let us walk in and say hello," I said dryly.

Two huge doors on the left let us know we were where we had to be. The two men standing on guard at the door were both 55C Boomers in disguise, according to my scanners, but they did nothing. They only stood there looking at us as one of the large doors opened, revealing none other than the lavender-haired woman in question.

"Welcome, Knight Sabers," she greeted with a small smirk that I remembered all too well from our last encounter. "I've been expecting you. Come in."

"Be on guard," Sylia warned over the comm.

"Right," I responded as we both followed her in, the two Boomers in disguise coming in right behind us as the door shut.

Madigan took out a bottle of wine and a glass from a drawer in her desk. As she filled the glass, she observed, "Only two of you? Where are the others?"

Sylia motioned to let me have her do the talking. "What we are here for does not require all five of us, Miss Madigan."

"Five? So you've found the purple Knight Saber?" she asked, her smirk starting to spread into a grin as she took a sip from her glass.

"Yes," Sylia replied without hesitation. "But Blue and I are not here to discuss that. We are here to give you a warning."

"And what is that?"

"You may recall the summit incident from March sixteenth of last year. Genom would have the public believe that the Knight Sabers were responsible for the fiasco at the convention center, when, in fact, we have evidence quite to the contrary. We are here to warn you to back down from pursuit of any individual member of our group. If you do not cease, we will take our evidence to an appropriate forum to be dealt with."

Madigan set down her glass. She didn't look shaken up in the least. "An appropriate forum, eh? I don't know what kind of evidence you think you have, but you've already been judged in the court of public opinion. Nothing you do can change their verdict. And who else could possibly destroy the convention center? No one has testified to seeing anything else there that could inflict the damage that you could have."

"No one that you haven't killed or paid off," I growled. Sylia motioned for me to stay quiet, but Madigan had already turned to me, smiling.

"An associate of mine was killed last night," she said, smile unfading. "At the time of the summit, he was the United States ambassador to Japan. He had an unexpected guest the night before his death. The details his lady guest divulged tell me that it could only have been one person who could have been that guest." She picked up her glass again, taking several steps in my direction. "Who do you think that guest was?"

"Some dead ambassador and his call girls don't concern me," I said.

"They don't, do they?" She took another sip of her wine. "There is only one person who had herself and her daughter injured that night. You may recognize the names. Priss and Yumeko Asagiri, ages forty-one and sixteen at the time, respectively. Wasn't that same Yumeko in a coma for five days, like the lady guest of my associate said about her own daughter? Now, we can give this guest the benefit of the doubt and say that she was lying about being a part of the summit fiasco to begin with, just to get on the man's good side. Or, we can say that guest was really you…Priss." She swirled her glass. "You were in New York City that night, although it would also seem you suddenly disappeared that night as well, for some unknown reason."

She walked back over to her desk, leaning against it as she drummed her nails. "Can I assume that you disappeared because you heard about an incident regarding a girl named Rocío Monterrey? So you went to save that little girl?"

I said nothing.

Sylia put up a hand to silence her. "If there is a point to what you're saying, Miss Madigan, I'd like to hear it. Otherwise, we're finished here."

"There is a point to my words." She set down her glass, which was now empty. "My point…is that if you think you can try to dig information out of my associates and not have it come back to bite you in the ass, you are sorely mistaken!" She motioned towards the disguised Boomers standing behind Sylia and me. We both spun around just in time to see them burst out of their human disguises, the fake human skin and scraps of clothing fluttering to the floor as they came charging at us.

The one coming my way swung its fist at me. I ducked and rolled to the side, getting up to one knee and firing three needles into its back. It turned around just in time to meet its face with my Knuckle Bomber. Its head exploded and its body slumped to the ground as I stood back, looking to my right to see Sylia fire several beam cannon shots into her Boomer's chest, followed by it being cut in half at the waist.

Madigan stood there, her mouth hanging slightly open as Sylia and I turned to face her again. "…You're quicker than I thought," she said, though hardly humbled.

"Stuff it," I spat. "We didn't come here to play around with your toys!"

Madigan looked like she was drumming her fingers slowly, but no. She was pressing some buttons on her desk. "Toys? I would hardly call Combat Boomers toys. Do you recall fighting this one back in your youth?"

"What one?"

"I'll show you. Look at the Multivision up on the wall there."

Me and Sylia both turned to the wall above the main doors, expecting to see some sort of specs or footage or something. But instead came up a message: "File Error: Unable to Execute Operation. Initiating System Execution."

"…What the hell?" Madigan gasped, pressing several more buttons, only for the warning to still be on the screen. "The system froze?!"

"I think it did more than just freeze," I said, grinning; it seemed Nene and the others had done their part. "Since you can't show us whatever you wanted to show us, I guess there's no point in us sticking around."

"Indeed," Sylia agreed, folding her arms. "We'll be taking our leave."

Madigan's eyes practically lit up as another screen on her desk showed her something. "I don't think you'll be going anywhere," she said in a foreboding tone.

"Why not?" I inquired.

"There's an old friend of yours who wants to meet with you." She nodded towards the wall on her left side. With a press of a button, a panel in the wall opened. Stepping through was a very familiar sight; the Boomer who had stabbed me two months prior. But what it held in its possession made me freeze in position.

In a full-Nelson position, the Boomer held Yume, who was limp in its grip. A scorch mark on her chest from a beam cannon was evident. "What the hell are you doing with her?!" I yelled, starting to run for the Boomer, but Sylia grabbed my shoulder, holding me back. Where were Linna and Nene?!

"I told you that you wouldn't want to leave," Madigan said, smirking. "You say that it was only you two, but apparently there was a third. Your precious daughter."

The Boomer relaxed its right arm, lowering it. My body jerked when it popped out its lasersword and put it to Yume's throat. "She won't live to see her eighteenth birthday unless you do exactly what I want you to," Madigan threatened, her smirk turning into a sneer.

"You wouldn't!!"

"I don't care if she's a child. She's an enemy of Genom, and therefore must die. Unless, of course, we do an exchange."

"What, me for her? I know your kind. You'll slaughter her anyway the moment I fly the white flag! You know I'm not gonna do it!"

"Oh, you won't? You want to see her bleed? I suppose if that's how you get your jollies, I can arrange that. You've seen her bleed before anyway."

"You fucking bitch!" I seethed, my whole body trembling as I clenched my hands into fists. There was no good way to attempt to stop this. One wrong move and Yume would be dead on the floor. One wrong hit on the Boomer and its reaction would be to move that sword across her throat anyway.

"We could do a different sort of exchange, also. Hand me whatever information you think you have that allegedly proves you didn't destroy the convention center, and I just might let you all walk out of here."

_Too late for that,_ I thought grimly. "Sylia," I said over the comm, "w-what the hell do we do?!"

"Stand back," she said calmly.

"What?!"

The windows and wall behind Madigan exploded, sending her flying forward as the wall disappeared, crumbling down the side of the Tower. Sylia and I both jumped back, putting up our arms to shield ourselves from the flying debris. "What the…?!" I exclaimed. "Linna? Nene?"

Sure enough, in the smoke were standing two large figures. Motoslaves, one pink, one green. The pink one waved, while the green one just stood there.

"Kill her! Kill her!!" Madigan yelled, still down on the floor.

"NO!!" I screamed, spinning in the direction of the Boomer, ready to launch myself at it. I couldn't let this happen! I wouldn't!!

Sylia had been about to do the same thing I was, but we both froze in position when we heard the sound of a lasersword puncturing flesh. We looked at each other, then in the direction of the Boomer, shocked, when we heard a low growl coming from the Boomer. I never knew if Boomers could feel pain, but this one definitely sounded pissed off, to say the least. When the smoke started to clear, everyone gasped as we figured out why it sounded that way: there was a lasersword going through its right forearm. Not its own.

It was Yume's.

The Boomer had withdrawn its blade in shock, but Yume wasn't done. As the Boomer loosened its grip on her, she slid down to the floor, dragging her sword down lengthwise through the Boomer's arm. It howled when she finally pulled the sword through its hand, flaying its arm in half. She dropped to one knee, and as the Boomer tried to swipe at her, with its mangled arm, no less, she spun around and sliced it off cleanly at the elbow.

"Shit! Yume!!" I gasped.

"She's not normal," Sylia cautioned. "Her heart rate is 185, and her brain waves are all over the place."

"That means…"

"She's in a blackout."

I watched as Yume rolled between the Boomer's legs, firing two discs through its back. They emerged through the chest, and both me and Sylia had to duck to avoid getting hit. When I turned to look again, she'd popped out both of her swords, and was lunging at the Boomer again when, from the side, it was hit with gunfire. Nene was firing away with her Motoslave's gun.

"Damn you all!!" the Boomer growled, charging at Nene, who by now had stopped firing and was now backing away. The Boomer swatted her down easily, and was about to go for Linna when Yume prepared to lunge again.

"You idiot!!" I yelled as I ran towards her. I managed to knock her down just in time for Linna to open fire with her own guns, blowing several holes in the Boomer.

-----

"What?"

I looked up, bewildered to see a blue hardsuit on top of me. What the hell had just happened? The last thing I remembered was being held in a full-Nelson by that Boomer that had attacked me earlier…and a sharp pain on my throat. How did I get out of its grip?

"You idiot!" Mom yelled. "You almost got in Linna's way!!"

I pushed her off and put a hand to the left side of my throat, the palm coming away slightly bloody when I looked at it again. "That thing almost cut me open…" I said in a low voice, mostly to myself. "How did I…?"

Mom let out an exasperated sigh. "You blacked out." She shook her head.

"I…did?!" I gulped; no one close to me had ever witnessed me in a blackout before, and part of me had always wondered what would happen if I'd had one in the middle of battle. I'd dreaded the thought, but the fact Mom was here talking to me told me that at least I hadn't gone entirely psycho. "Anybody die?"

"No," she said, sighing again. "Boomer and Madigan are still standing—" She shoved me away and jumped away herself as the Boomer slammed into the wall behind us. I looked at its right arm, which was severed at the elbow. Strings of flesh were emerging from the stump, twisting together. It was trying to reform its arm.

It turned to me. "You're bleeding," it observed. "But not enough."

"That's as close as you're gonna get," I growled, popping out my lasersword. It crouched, ready to pounce on me, but then Sylia came at it, her own sword at the ready. The Boomer turned and swatted her out of the way, and punched Linna square in the middle of her Motoslave when she came to intervene, making her stagger back.

I signaled for Monsoon just as I saw Mom roll to dodge a mouth cannon blast from the Boomer. She got up on one knee and fired several needles into its chest, but they didn't seem to have any effect other than to piss it off. It yanked them out of its chest and dropped them to the ground like they were nothing. The reforming flesh on its right arm was now starting to take shape; I could distinctly make out five fingers, and although I doubted it could reform its sword, it having two arms again would put it back in the game. I wasn't about to let that happen.

It turned on Nene, who fired several holes into its body, but the holes closed up in a matter of seconds. When it began to advance on her, I made my move. Withdrawing my sword, I took off running, straight for the Boomer. It turned in my direction, just in time. I jumped, landing my left foot on its chest and bringing up my right. It connected square with the Boomer's chin, blowing off the bastard's face as my Leg Bombers did their work. I did a backward flip and landed, only to go right for it again. I popped out my sword again, and while it was blind and reforming its face, I took a swipe, cutting off its half-reformed arm.

I drew my arm back, prepared to shove my sword right up through its head to finish it off. At the moment I thrust my arm forward, though, the Boomer used its remaining arm to grab it. I grimaced and cursed to myself, looking up. Its face was mostly healed now, enough to reveal a pair of glowing red eyes.

"I am not finished so easily," it growled.

"Ok. How about this then?" I asked, opening up the armor on my shoulders, revealing my pulse-strikers. Upon activating them, the Boomer tightened its grip, but at the same time started convulsing.

"Stupid bitch…!" it tried to say, only to get garbled.

A cannon blast out of nowhere severed the Boomer's other arm, and the part that had grabbed my arm now relaxed and dropped to the floor harmlessly. I spun around and closed up my pulse-strikers; standing behind me was Monsoon, a smoking cannon in its hand. I grinned.

"Thanks!"

The 'ping-ping-ping' of Mom's railgun greeted me as I spun around yet again to face the Boomer. It was now pinned to the wall, three needles sticking out of its chest. It struggled mightily to yank itself free of the wall, and after a second, it did. But it was too late. Linna, recovered from the earlier blow she'd taken, came up and slapped one of the Motoslave-style S-Bombs on its stomach.

Sylia signaled for everyone to jump back, and we did, just in time for the Boomer to go up in a huge fireball that went all the way to the ceiling, pieces of Boomer flying in every direction. Once the roar died down, I could hear Mom joke, "Is it safe to get up?"

"Yeah," Nene responded, sounding slightly winded as she got her Motoslave on its feet again. I pushed myself up to my feet, afterwards helping Sylia, who was nearby, up on hers. Mom and Linna were up soon after. But there was one thing missing.

"Where's Madigan?" Linna asked.

Sylia pointed at the desk, which was still standing in the middle of the room, near where the outside wall used to be. "She's behind the desk."

My scanner indeed did pick up a heat signal from behind the desk, indicating she was still alive. Part of me wanted to walk over there and surprise her by slitting her throat, just like she'd tried to have the Boomer do to me. It would only be fitting. But I stayed where I was. Unless she intended to call out some 55C Boomers – laughable – she could do nothing to us now.

"You defeated him," Madigan finally said, staggering to her feet, holding a strange weapon in her hand. It looked like some sort of gun, but…different, somehow. She turned to me, looking disgusted. "And you. Don't believe for a moment that you've gotten lucky because your friends saved you. Your childish wiles make you fallible."

_Fallible,_ I thought. _Boh said that in my dream…_

Smirking, Madigan turned and pointed the strange gun, firing twice. My head jerked in that direction when I heard a shriek emanating from Linna. I gasped when I saw what looked almost exactly like two of Mom's railgun needles sticking out of Linna's lower leg, which were not protected by her Motoslave.

"Linna!" Nene cried out.

"You…!!" I growled, snapping my head back in her direction. My sword was out again, and I was damn ready to use it now. How dare she attack one of my friends like that! And with a copy of my mom's weapon, no less!

Madigan had the gun aimed at me now, or more specifically…aimed at my chest. "You're not getting away, Yumeko."

I heard a weapon fire, but as much as I'd expected it to be Madigan's, it wasn't. She just stood there in the same position she had been before…only her expression had gone ashen. She looked down and put a hand over her heart, where blood was leaking from a newly-inflicted pinhole-sized wound. I sucked in a breath and turned to look at the source of the firing.

The only one standing with a smoking weapon was Mom. Her arm was still up, her body stance stiff. I sucked in a breath. She'd done it. She had really shot Madigan…

I turned to look at the lavender-haired woman again. She drew in a gasp, then dropped to her knees, her gun clattering to the ground, having slipped out of her hand. Her blouse became soaked through in crimson fluid.

"You…don't know what you've done…" she croaked, her voice barely audible.

Mom didn't speak. No one spoke, in fact. I didn't even hear anyone breathe as everyone just stood there, shocked, not at the fact that Mom had been the one to shoot her, but at whom had been shot. The blood didn't even bother me; I was numb at the sight. The Boomer had said there hadn't been enough blood; now there was. Just not mine.

Madigan fell backwards onto the carpet, said carpet quickly becoming stained red as her wound continued to bleed. Her eyes blinked several times, her face turned away from me, seemingly gazing off at something that only she could see. Her gaze turned glassy, and a moment later, she ceased blinking. Her chest stopped moving up and down with her labored breaths, and her left hand, the one held over her heart, dropped limply to her side. She was gone.

I looked up from Madigan's body as Sylia walked over to Linna, examining the needles that had pierced her leg. "They don't seem to have penetrated through the other side," she said. "Can you move?"

"Y-yeah," she said wearily. "Flying out of here won't be a problem."

"Good. We'll pull out the needles once we're on the KnightWing."

"Mom," I said as she walked over to me, "is it over?"

She looked down at Madigan, and though I couldn't see the look on her face, I knew she held a look of contempt. "I can't say for sure, Yume. But…I hope so."

No one took another look at the dead woman on the floor as they prepared to head out. Sylia went first, followed by Linna, Nene, then Mom and Typhoon III. I motioned for Monsoon to pick me up, holding me in one arm as it flew me out; with one wing missing, flying would have been impossible.

Another trip to Genom Tower…seven months ago I would never have imagined I'd have to make this trip again. But this time, I had my mom and my friends with me, and again, things turned our way. And this time, it wasn't just Boomers that lay dead at the Tower; now a Genom CEO lay dead along with them. That could've put a crimp in whatever plans the company had for the future, but I didn't care. It was one less person to worry about.

Now I could finally look forward to what lay in store for me ahead.


	7. Dreams alight

The next few days were spent with us staying in Sylia's place in San Francisco, with everyone recovering from the battle at Genom Tower and generally me getting reacquainted with everyone again. So much had happened in the last few days, and we hadn't really had time to enjoy our reunion before our mission beckoned us. But now, we could be a family again.

Linna had to be on crutches for several days to let her leg heal, but otherwise she was in good spirits. Xania had initially freaked out when she saw the cut on my throat, but ended up laughing when I told her that was what had sent me into a blackout. "Son of a bitch deserved it!!" she asserted. "Every bit of it!"

Katherine Madigan was dead, and the papers confirmed as such, but Genom spokespeople had denied anything had gone on at the Genom Tower in San Fran the night we raided it. They would only say that she had suffered a massive heart attack. Heh, right. A heart attack. But they definitely weren't mincing words there; she'd literally had a heart attack. Yup, attacked by a railgun needle! Quincy made a comment stating that the loss of Madigan was regretful, but that Genom's mission would continue on, and so he resumed his place as Genom CEO. I never did figure out why he'd had Madigan replace him as CEO anyway, but Sylia would say that publicly declaring her a CEO was probably just a warning directed at us, with no true merit behind it. A formality, perhaps, just to give her the power she desired so she could come chasing after us.

In the end, it didn't matter to me. She was dead either way, and I, for one, would not be mourning her death.

As for the package I had dubbed Daisy…in the weeks after the incident at Genom Tower, the U.N. had made an official statement saying, in layman's terms, that some 'new information' regarding the summit incident had come to their attention, and that until this information was processed and gone over with a fine-tooth comb, that Genom was not to conduct any more research on new types of Combat Boomers. Supposedly, the accounts for those kinds of research were frozen, but we all knew better than to think that would be the end of it. They must've had some kinds of secret accounts or secret research or other kinds of bullshit like that going on. But when questioned, Sylia didn't elaborate. She said we had done our piece; now it was time for the U.N. and the news feeds who'd received Daisy to do their work. The best I could do was take her word for it; she knew what she was talking about.

Near the end of April, Mom, who had decided to stick around in California for a while for some reason, surprised me with the very reason why she HAD stuck around. After I got out of school, I headed to the gym for my usual tai chi lesson with Kenneth, only to arrive and see that the parking lot was almost completely empty. I scratched my head and wondered what was going on, until Mom emerged from inside and dragged me in, saying she had a surprise for me.

"What's all this?" I asked, looking around the gym. There were cameras set up everywhere, catching every possible angle of the uneven bars, the floor, the beam, and the vault. "Am I getting filmed?"

"Yup," she said, patting me on the shoulder. "When I was in New York, I talked with a member of the IOC. He acknowledged there were extenuating circumstances as to why you've been out of competition, and what he recommended was that we send him a piece of recent film with you in action. He and the other guys on the board will look it over, and see if they can get you into the trials in Osaka in three weeks."

"…REALLY?!" I exclaimed. "They'll really allow that?!"

"They said it'd have to be in their hands within the week of us filming this, and that they'd have to have it by the end of the month. That's in a couple days, so we gotta hustle."

"You rented out the whole gym for this?"

"Don't want any gawkers," she joked, sticking a tongue out at me.

"I don't mind an audience, Mom."

"Still, might be better for you to have as little distraction as possible, especially since everything you've been wanting is riding on what we're doing today."

Kenneth walked up to me. "This is secret, right?" I asked him. "You haven't told anyone she's here?"

"Not a word," he said. "I wish you'd let me known sooner that Miss Asagiri was your mother though."

"For the sake of privacy," I said timidly. Boy, was I understating it there. All he knew was that I was really from Japan and was the daughter of Priss Asagiri, the singer. Everything else, he was ignorant about. After all, that 'everything else' wouldn't be able to be explained so easily. He seemed to sense that there were some things we didn't want to discuss, and so didn't press on those issues.

"What do you wanna start with?" Mom asked, adjusting one of the cameras.

"I need to go change first."

"Oh, ok, do that then."

I jogged to the locker room to get into my leotard. I don't think I had ever changed into that thing so fast in my life; I didn't even remember taking off my regular clothes. Suddenly I was in my favorite green leotard, tying my hair back into a ponytail. After adjusting my leg sleeve, I jogged back out to Mom and Kenneth.

"I'm ready!" I announced.

"So is she," Kenneth added, pointing to a new guest, who was standing by the windows.

"…Xania!"

"Yo!" she greeted, leaning on a weight-lifting bench. "Priss called me. Her English is pretty fucked up, but I got the gist of what she was tryin' to tell me."

I laughed. "Well, good! It's nice to see you here."

"So what're you doin' first?"

"Floor."

"CD ready?"

"Mom's got it."

I walked over to the far corner of the floor mat, getting myself warmed up. Mom and Kenneth both got into position, making sure all the camcorders were turned on and working properly. When I gave the signal, the camcorders started to roll, Xania turned on the CD player, and the first lyrics of the song I had chosen to accompany me on floor sang out, my signal to start my dance.

"_The window burns to light the way back home…a light that warms no matter where they go…_"

-----

The week after Mom had turned in the tapes to the IOC was hell. As much as I was supposed to concentrate on school and study for finals, the only thing on my mind was whether I had been good enough on my exercises. I could've sworn they were supposed to get back to me on my results almost right away, but I admit I did have to cut them some slack; they were probably busy as hell doing other stuff for the Olympics. Couldn't just drop everything just to review my case…although part of me selfishly wished they did.

Had I remembered to do all of the required moves on the uneven bars? Did I go over the ninety-second limit on the floor? Had I wobbled when I landed upon completing vault? No…I couldn't let myself think about that. I had to stay positive. Worrying wouldn't do me any good; it was completely out of my hands now.

And then, at 2 AM Mom called, waking me from my fitful sleep. I rubbed one eye as I picked up the receiver, Mom's face appearing on the screen. "H-hello," I said, yawning. "Mom, what's up?"

"The IOC just called me," she said, grinning. "Took 'em forever to review the damn video, don't ya think?"

"They're just now getting back to you?"

"Yeah. I think they get some kinda sick pleasure out of watching us sit in suspense. Anyway, you might want to pack your bags. In two weeks we gotta head to Osaka."

My celebratory yelling woke up everyone in the house.

Irodia came running into my room, wondering if someone had broken in, but once I handed the receiver to her and let Mom tell her the news – I was too excited to speak coherently – she joined me in my yelling. Mikhaila and Tyler just stood there in the doorway half-asleep, looking at us like we were crazy. But I didn't care; let them think I was crazy! I was over the moon! Ever since I'd been shot I'd been wondering if I would ever have this opportunity. And here it was, ready for the taking. I just had to take that final step, and be among the seven girls who would get to catch that flight to Nairobi and fight for the gold.

Two weeks later, just before finals, Mom and I flew to Osaka for the NHK Cup, the trials. I'd been perfectly comfortable using English when I was in Sacramento, but now that I could freely speak Japanese with people besides Mom and my aunts, I felt like I could truly relax. I even tried out some of the bits of Osaka dialect that I knew, even if the only bits I knew were to say _hen_ instead of _nai_ for the negative verb endings, and saying _denna_ instead of _da_ for the sentence endings. It was fun, and I even got to see a few old teammates there, including Clara.

"You really made it to the trials!!" she exclaimed after giving me the ultimate bear hug. "That's so great! I'm feeling so nervous right now!"

"Remember what I told you when you were trying out for the Kihi team," I reminded her.

"Yeah, I remember. Pretend you're just by yourself, like when you're practicing." She tightened her ponytail. "Yumeko, it's been so long. How have you been? I heard about Michiko..."

I nodded, casting my eyes down for a moment. "I had to get away for a while. Too much stuff in too little time. But I'm back, and ready to kick some ass today! How about you?"

"Yeah!" she vehemently agreed. "Let's do our best!"

"All of you, do your best!!" a familiar voice corrected from the stands. Clara and I turned around, and there in the front row were Mom, Linna, and Nene, waving and cheering. I smiled and gave them a thumbs-up.

"Yeah. We'll all do our best," I said.

"LADIES!" the coach yelled out, snapping my group to full attention. "This is the NHK Cup! Dozens of girls here all with the same dream you have, to get to Nairobi! It is not an easy journey to make!" He fanned his hand out, showing us the other teams. "All these girls…and only ten will go; seven team members, and three alternates. I want ALL of you to do your routines like you've never done them before. Several of you have been to Worlds; thought THAT was tough? This is five times worse! The pressure is on all of you today to step it up. If you fail, you'll have to wait another four years for your next shot. I know you don't want to wait another four years, do you?!"

"No, sir!!" we all yelled.

"Good! Make this count! A 9.5 ain't gonna fly here, so if you've been content with that, you're not gonna make the team. Is anyone here content with that?"

"No, sir!!"

"Thought not! Let's open up a can of whoop-ass on these other girls, all right?!"

"YEAH!!" everyone cheered.

"Asagiri!"

"Yes, sir!" I said.

He motioned towards the balance beam. "The beam's all yours, kid. Make it beg."

"Yes, sir!"

I could feel the hush fall over the crowd as I approached the balance beam, the loudspeakers announcing my name. "Yumeko Asagiri on balance beam." I let out a breath, feeling like I'd been holding it for forever. This was my moment. The beam had always been my adversary, but now I was going to have it at my mercy, just like the coach had told me to do. I had to move like I'd lived my whole life on that beam. And so I would.

I ran up to the end of the beam, doing a front aerial flip, my feet touching down gracefully on the end of the beam. I did a front-handspring, followed by two back-hand ones. I turned around, did another back-handspring, then did the splits in the air as I did another backwards flip. As I was about to touch down on the beam again, I spread my legs, throwing them down on both sides of the beam, drawing them back up so that I was doing yet another backwards flip. I touched my feet down on the beam again, standing up, the applause roaring in my ears. My favorite kind of music.

The rest of the routine went just as I had imagined it would go, and at the end I did several more back-handsprings, then a backwards aerial flip as I dismounted, landing on the mat with hardly a bounce at all. As I drew my arms back in my finishing pose, the audience roared again. I relaxed and went back to the sidelines, my whole team cheering.

"That was awesome!"

"You looked so graceful!"

"You OWNED that beam!!"

After a moment, the results came up on the board. I looked down. "I can't look," I mumbled. "Could someone tell me?"

Clara looked up, mouthing the numbers to herself. "Average of 9.71, Yumeko! That's great!" The rest of the team nodded, voicing their agreement.

"What a routine," the coach said. "If you can pull that off on the other three, you'll be a shoo-in, Asagiri. Blue leg of steel, that's what you've got!"

I looked down at my leg, covered in its usual blue sleeve. No wonder he'd called it that. "You have no idea how close you are," I said, a small smile crossing my lips.

I would've hardly called myself a shoo-in, but then again, I wasn't the most boastful type, either. Everyone here had a fair shot at making the team; I couldn't let any sort of ego go to my head, for it could be my undoing. I'd seen it happen several times; it was a bigger deciding factor in the outcome of competitions than even injury sometimes. And still, I did have three more exercises left: the floor, the uneven bars, and the vault. There was no ruling anybody in or out, not yet…

-----

Several days in Osaka for the NHK Cup, and then right back to Sacramento to take the school finals. Being psyched for the trials had almost made me forget all of my studying, but luckily – sorta – for me, Irodia was there to harp on me to get it done. Finals lasted for a few days, then a couple more days later, the results of my tests came in the mail. I'd passed. I would graduate with the others. The ceremony was set for June 3rd, only five days before my eighteenth birthday.

The ceremony itself went ok. The principal of the school made a speech, then the school choir sang, and the valedictorian, who just happened to be Juliana, spoke as well. Following that was the presentation of the diplomas, contained in dark blue diploma folders. All the students were in assigned seats based on last name, and row by row we all went up backstage, and when the principal called out a student's name, that student would go up, take the diploma folder into his hand, and shake the principal's hand, with the principal congratulating him.

After everyone in my row got their folders and were able to sit down again, I opened up my folder. There in big, bold, cursive writing in the middle of the diploma was my fake name: Rocío María Monterrey. I smirked to myself and closed it. I would definitely have to have Nene get the name changed on it when I got back home to Tokyo. But for now, I had one last chance to hang out with everyone.

After the graduating class switched the tassels to the other side of the cap and tossed them into the air, the class song blaring in the background, I picked up my cap – or at least what I thought was my cap; everyone's were mixed up now – and hunted Xania down.

"Hey girl!" she cheered, grabbing me hard. "We're outta school now! How's that?"

"It's awesome!" I exclaimed. "No more essays!"

"Amen to that!"

Juliana, Sara, and Mikhaila quickly joined us, beaming much the same way Xania and I were. Juliana looked cool as a cucumber as always, while Sara immediately started in on her Spanish. "_Rocío, Rocío, tengo que practicar mi español contigo. Si vas, yo…_"

"You won't forget," I assured her. "And how do you know I'm leaving?"

"I just have a feeling."

"You're going to college, right? Keep up on it there."

She got the most adorable sad face I'd ever seen on anyone. "But it's more fun when it's not in a classroom."

"Grow up," Juliana joked, hitting her on the back of the head.

"Cool speech, Juls," Xania said.

"I could never do that," Mikhaila added, shuddering. "Speaking in front of a crowd…ugh, no way!"

"Well," Juliana said pointedly, turning towards the redhead, "I WAS on the debate team. I better know how to talk in front of people! And it wasn't that bad, really." She watched as everyone, including me, paled. "Oh, come on! It takes practice!"

"Yes, like William Tell needing practice to hit the apple," Xania spat, chuckling at the same time.

"Who?" I asked.

"Nothin', nothin'."

I decided not to inquire further. "So what's everyone gonna do now?" I asked. "Travel, work, any of that happy crap?"

"I scored an internship in DC," Juliana said. "I'll get to work under the president's speechwriter's wing."

"Sleep," Mikhaila chirped.

"Work part-time to save money," Sara replied.

"What about you, Xania?" Juliana asked.

"Yeah, yeah, what ABOUT you?" Mikhaila agreed.

Xania just grinned. "That's for me to know, and Rosho to find out."

"Huh?" was all I could say. What did she mean by that? I soon found out, for she excused us both and dragged me over to the edge of the park, into the shade of a tree.

"Look at this," she said, unzipping her graduation gown. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. "Read it."

I did so. "This is…an acceptance letter to UC-Berkeley." I looked up at her in shock. "I thought you didn't want to attend college. You said…"

"I know what I said, but…" She grew timid, very unlike her. "Even renegade kids like me have dreams. I'd always wanted to go to college, but no one believed in me. Even my foster mom hasn't held any faith. She always said that if a college ever did accept me, that I'd have to pay my own way, that she wasn't gonna give me any handouts. Anything after high school would have to be done on my own."

"So, what? You got a scholarship?"

"Uh…sorta."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I inquired. "You don't 'sorta' get a scholarship."

"When we were in San Fran when the whole Tower thing went down…me and your friend Sylia started talkin'. She was really curious about me, asked all kinds of shit. And I told her somethin' that nobody else knows about."

"Like what?"

"Well, you know about me bein' a foster kid an' all. I always hated social workers, hated the whole fuckin' system. It's a cesspool of…people who care more about their paycheck than about the kids they're supposed to look out for. I told her it's a shithole, and that I feel sorry for any kid who's gotta go through the system. I also told her that I…I think that although it IS a shithole, somebody's gotta go in there and make it right, make everything work."

"YOU want to be a social worker?!"

"Not so loud," she shushed, her face beet red. "Y-yeah. I told Sylia that. And she said somethin' about the Knight Sabers not being able to make the world a better place by themselves. She said it's people like me that'll have to do it. And you know what she's gonna do, Rosho? She said that she would pay for all four years of college for me, plus grad school if I wanna go; 'It's something I'm willing to invest in,' she said. 'Your future.' She encouraged me to apply to all the schools I wanted to, since money wouldn't be a problem. I applied to ten schools, but only two accepted me, and UC-Berkeley's the only one in-state, so…"

"That's awesome!" I exclaimed. "I really think you'll be able to help those kids out. You can relate to them better than anybody."

Xania got a shy grin on her face. "You think so?"

"Sure I do! You can relate to the stresses and repercussions of coming from a broken home. And I can tell that ever since you revisited your old house in Needles, you've been…how do I put it…not as rowdy. You've been a lot mellower."

"Mellower? I haven't noticed…"

"You're not as mad. You're…happy."

"I'm always happy!"

"Ornery is more like it," Linna chimed in. Xania and I spun around and saw her standing by another nearby tree. I really wished she wouldn't do that, appear out of nowhere.

"Linna!" we both exclaimed.

"So now you're both high school grads. How does it feel?"

"Liberating," I said.

"Kinda scary," Xania admitted.

"But at least you're going to college in the fall. You'll have the whole summer to plan," Linna pointed out.

"Yeah…"

"Where's Mom and the others?" I asked.

"They're still looking for you. I'll page 'em and tell 'em I found you." She reached into her pocket and pressed a button on her pager. "There."

"How's your leg?"

Linna leaned down to look me in the face. "Yumeko, you ask that every time we see each other. And I'm telling you again, it's fine."

"I know, but…I'm just making sure."

"You don't need to make sure. You always get worried about other people getting hurt, and that's admirable, but sometimes you just have to stop that when you know it's not that bad."

"It looked like it hurt."

"It did," she allowed, nodding, "but I can use it fine now. There won't even be any scarring. Do you want me to keep asking about your throat?"

I smirked and pulled down the collar on my gown, revealing a thin scar. "It's fine. You can barely see the scar. Just another battle wound for me."

"We've all had our share, you more than others."

"Must you bring that up?"

"Yes I must!"

Xania just laughed. "Oh, by the way, Xania," Linna said, turning to her, "has Yumeko told you yet?"

"Told me what?" she inquired.

"Show her, Yumeko," she said, turning to me again. I nodded and unzipped my gown, pulling out an envelope much in the same fashion Xania had just done. I handed it to her. "Read it," I said.

She ripped open the envelope, unfolding the letter inside. I laughed as her face went blank. "Rosho, you know I can't read Japanese!" she protested.

"I know," I joked, "so I'll tell you what it says. It basically says that of all the dozens of girls who were at the trials, that only seven made the team, with three more girls as alternates. It also says that some girl named Yumeko Asagiri made the number-five spot."

Xania gaped at me, letting the letter slip from her hand and fall to her feet. "You…made it?"

I grinned impishly. "Uh-huh."

The next thing I knew, I was being tackled to the grass, a monkey-tailed girl on top of me with her arms around my neck, laughing and giggling. "AWESOME!! You're goin' to Nairobi! That's friggin' awesome!! I knew you could do it!!"

"Looks like you told her, huh?" I heard Mom say. I looked up over Xania's shoulder and saw her, Nene, and Sylia walk up beside Linna, everyone amused at the sight. Mom was wearing a red sundress and dark shades, with her hair tied up, hidden under a broad-rimmed straw hat. I thought she looked kinda silly, and so did she, but if anyone knew Priss Asagiri was at this graduation, she would get more attention than the graduates.

"Yup," I wheezed. "Air!" Xania gasped and let go of me, apologizing, all the while still with a wide grin on her face.

"So Sara was right when she figured you'd be leaving soon!" she realized.

"Yeah. She was. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"You can't stick around to celebrate your birthday with everyone?"

"Nope, 'fraid not. The sooner I get to Nairobi, the sooner I can get used to the altitude, and the sooner I can get some serious practice done before the Olympics start in August."

"I understand, but…that sucks."

"College is gonna be your version of the Olympics. You gotta do your best too, ok?"

"I will!"

"Xania in college," a guy's voice said from above us. "Didn't think I'd hear that phrase." We both stood up, looking at the owner of the voice. Greg.

"Geez, everyone's here!" I said.

"So introduce me, Rocío," he laughed. "Who are all these ladies here?"

I pointed at each of them, saying their names in turn. "My aunts, Sylia, Nene, and Linna. And this is my mom."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," he said, holding his hand out for Mom. She took it and shook it, nodding and mumbling, "You too," in accented English. "So what're you studying, Xania?"

"Studying to save the world, one kid at a time," she said.

"A social worker, huh?"

"Screw you."

Greg laughed again. "I want to talk with Rocío in private, if that's ok."

"Heh, I guess everyone wants her in private today!" she joked as Greg led me away from the group. Sure DID seem that way now!

"What is it?" I asked.

"I told you I was going to join the Army after school. Well, they accepted me. I'm leaving for boot camp tomorrow."

"Good for you. I'm leaving tomorrow too, for different reasons."

"I think I can guess what those reasons would be," he mused, grinning. "Would I be right?"

"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, then yes."

"That's wonderful." He scratched the back of his head, suddenly looking shy. "I guess we won't be seeing each other for a while then."

"I guess not." I turned to look at Xania, who was chatting with Nene and the others. "She's still in love with you, you know. She admitted as much to me over spring break."

"She did? Not like her to admit anything like that."

"She sorta said it indirectly. But…she basically told me the reason she broke up with you is that she found out about you wanting to join the Army. She was afraid you were going to abandon her. She won't admit it, but she's insecure."

"I know," he said. "And I tried telling her I would take care of her."

"But you can't do that if you're off at boot camp."

"Exactly."

"She's right over there. Why don't you go and talk with her, straighten things out? Maybe things'll work themselves out."

"I'm not so sure. This IS Xania we're talking about."

"Stop being a pussy and go over there!" I teased, shoving him in Xania's direction. She turned and looked at him for a moment, offering a shy smile. Greg asked if he could talk with her, and she reluctantly agreed. While they went off somewhere else to chat, I turned to Sylia.

"What is it, Yumeko?" she asked.

"I was wondering, could you take me somewhere? I'll give you directions, but there's somebody else I need to say goodbye to before we leave tomorrow."

"Who?" Mom asked.

I smiled. "Two guys Greg introduced me to. They've helped me through some rough patches, and I need to thank them for what they've done. Show 'em my appreciation and all."

-----

My aunts, Mom, and I took a trip downtown, with me taking off my cap and gown and handing them to Mom. Didn't want them getting dirty, although if I was a normal girl I probably would've been more worried about the sundress I wore underneath it getting dirty. No matter; once we got to our destination, I got out of the car and told everyone to wait there. "They don't like strangers stopping in," I explained.

It had always seemed like that whenever I did stop by and wait in the alley by the dumpster, that it never took long before somebody let me inside. I'd looked around for security cameras and the like, but I never saw any. I suppose that would be a little conspicuous that something was hidden in the alley, though. Anyway, it proved true again today, for I only stood there for a couple minutes before the door behind the dumpster opened, and the somebody who'd opened it pushed the dumpster aside.

Bert wolf-whistled when he saw me. "Well, well, well!" he said, grinning. "Somebody dressed up today!"

"I just graduated today," I said. "And they wouldn't let the girls wear jeans under their gowns, so I went with this."

"Let's get inside, huh?" I nodded and helped him pull the dumpster back into place as we went inside, me holding my nose once again as we descended the staircase into the shooting gallery. Juan, as usual, was there, cleaning a pistol, and he did a double-take when he saw me walk in behind Bert.

"Hot damn!" he sputtered, almost dropping the pistol. "Why dontcha come in here all the time like dat, huh?"

"Our little firecracker here just graduated!" Bert announced, gesturing to me. "No longer held down by the system!"

"Congratulations, Rocío!" Juan said, genuinely meaning it. "You done yourself good."

"Thanks, Juan." I looked from him to Bert. "Anyway, I came by today to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Bert repeated. "Where're ya goin'?"

"Tomorrow I'm heading for Nairobi."

"…You made it?!"

"Sure did."

"Kid, that's awesome," he said, slapping me on the back. "I'll keep an eye out for ya in the news."

"Thanks."

"Before ya leave, you sure you don't need any more ammo for your Spitdevil or anythin'?"

"I'm alright. 'Sides, I think my mom can hook me up when I get home. I don't think I'll be needing it for a while. And I'm sorry I can't go to San Fran with you. Blowing up junkyard cars really did sound like fun."

"Hey, that's alright, kid. Not sure I'd be able to go myself, anyhow. Somebody's gotta watch the place."

"What about Juan?"

"Bert's the big honcho here, not me," Juan interjected.

"I'm hopin' you ain't gonna ask for any more of the little white bottles, if you get my drift," Bert reminded me.

"Oh, no, I'm not. I poured out my last one once I made the trials. I haven't come this far just to sabotage myself."

"No withdrawal or anything?"

"I didn't take it THAT much," I said curtly.

"What about after you get home? Gonna get right back on the juice?" He actually looked a little concerned, a look I never expected from him.

"Why are you worried about that? I'm not your daughter, and you're not my father."

"Like I said before, kid," he said, sighing as he struck a match to light a cigarette, "it's way too easy to get hooked. Once you get off from your Olympic high, you just might turn back to your liquid gold."

"Well, hopefully by the time I get back home I won't be so pissed at the world," I replied. "And hopefully my leg won't hurt as much either. I made the Olympic team! This is as good as my leg is gonna get! If I still need my morphine now, I'm in trouble!"

"No shit."

"That's ok though," I said cheerfully. "It's pretty dry in Nairobi, so I'm not anticipating any pain problems."

"And if you have any?"

"Then there's plenty of specialists there who can help. Don't worry about it. Hell, after everything that's happened in the last year for me, I think I'm entitled to enjoy myself now! Don't you think?"

"For someone who's been to hell and back, like you, damn straight you are," he agreed, taking a pull on his cigarette. "You're perfectly entitled."

"Go Team USA!" Juan mock-cheered, grinning as Bert shot him an annoyed look.

"Oh, no, no, don't root for Team USA!" I corrected.

"Why not?" Bert inquired. "Ain't you on…?" I shook my head and headed back towards the stairs, with them following me so they could 'lock up' after I left.

"Nope," I said matter-of-factly.

"Then what team should we be watchin' for ya on?"

I smiled to myself. "You'll see me. Don't worry. You'll know me when you see me."

-----

It seemed like for the entire next twenty-four hours after Yume's graduation that we were going from one place to another, saying goodbyes. First it was her girlfriends right after the ceremony, then the guys at the shooting gallery, and then last but not least, her 'foster family.' I had the translator headphones on so I could understand what they were saying, but it wasn't anything I hadn't expected. The usual hugging and 'good lucks' and all that, and despite what Yume had said on her vidletters about fighting with Mikhaila all the time, the two girls actually looked civil, and even hugged. She hugged Tyler too, as he told her to kick ass in Nairobi. Like everybody else, Mikhaila and Tyler were let in on the truth…not the part about all of us being Knight Sabers, but generally that we had to lie about the whole Mexico story so she could have some privacy. They seemed to understand, although Mikhaila blurted out something about, "I KNEW you weren't speaking Spanish when you were recording those things! I knew it didn't sound like Spanish! And no wonder, it wasn't!"

The following day we had all of her things packed, and we headed for San Francisco International Airport for the trip to Nairobi. Even on the supersonic jets the flight took six hours, enough that by the time we got to Nairobi and checked into a hotel, we crashed right away.

Yume's eighteenth birthday wasn't marked by a party or anything like that. She just wanted to get in some light practice until her lungs adapted to the altitude. She felt that just making it to Nairobi and having me there with her was enough of a present. Of course, I protested, but she insisted, and so I had to give in. But still, she did get a surprise on that day, in the form of a visit from her rival at Worlds almost two years prior.

"Yumeko Asagiri!" the caramel-haired girl called out when she walked into the practice room, Yume doing some simple moves for her floor exercise. Yume stopped and practically spun around. From the look on her face, I could tell she was joyous.

"…Sonja?!" Yume exclaimed.

"Yes, it's me," she said plainly, smiling. Yume ran over to her, asking how she was. "I'm good. Last Worlds, no fun wizzout you."

"I got shot," she said.

"I know, I know. Everyone know zat. How is the leg now?" she asked, pointing to the sleeve-clad leg.

"It's good. I worked like hell to get it better." She grinned as she clenched a fist in front of her for Sonja to see. "I wanted to get my revenge for two years ago. This time I'll be the one getting the gold!"

"Oh, really? You will get gold?" Sonja laughed, but not in a menacing manner. It was more like a friendly laugh, like competing at the Olympics of all places was no big deal. "Not if I can help it."

"You might get the gold in beam, but I'll take the bars!"

"I take all-around!"

"I will!"

"Oh, no. You will have accident on beam again, and get bronze all-around again."

Yume laughed and stuck her tongue out. "That was a fluke. This competition is mine."

"We'll see about zat, huh?"

"Yeah we will!"

It was all good-natured ribbing, which I was happy to see. Yume was never bitter towards anyone in the gymnastics world, even her worst rival Sonja. At least it was one world where she was happy with everyone. It was a place where she could really relax and enjoy herself.

Most of the time, I left her alone to practice. I naturally attracted lots of paparazzi, and having them follow me to the practice facilities would only distract her, and I didn't want that. So I ended up wandering about Nairobi a lot, and it only got worse when me and my band released the cover CD at the end of July. Reporters asking why I chose to perform _The Show Must Go On_ instead of _Bohemian Rhapsody_, that kind of shit. Doing the major classics would've been cliché, I told them. It would be a nice change of pace for people not to hear the eleventh cover of _Like A Virgin_, and being a music fanatic, there were plenty of excellent songs that people today just didn't know about. I had to re-introduce those songs to the world, give them a new audience, give those people a new appreciation of unknown classics.

And the people seemed to respond. The CD went #1 in Japan, the US, and Europe. Max and Hiroshi were happy to hear that news, but it never was about whether a CD was successful or not to me. To me, it was about whether I enjoyed making the record or not. And despite the circumstances I had to record the CD under, I did enjoy making it. And despite the CD's immediate success, I didn't have time to celebrate. I had to cheer my daughter on, for the Olympics started the next week.

The Nairobi Olympics were to last two weeks, and each event usually took about one week to run its course. The first few days were just regular competition, with the top scorers going on to the finals to compete for the medals. For the all-around finals and the event finals, only two gymnasts from each country could advance, so in that sense Yume was also up against her own team members to get to the finals. Combine that with the team finals, and assuming Yume would make the all-around and the event finals, and she could potentially earn herself up to six medals. It hurt my head just thinking about it; I dunno how it affected Yume.

Whether it affected her or not, she didn't seem to show it during the qualifying rounds. She was all business, going about her routines like she'd done them a thousand times…which she probably had; God knew I wasn't able to attend every single practice. Her expression was like ice, even after the routines were over and she was able to go back to the bench. But that had been her reputation all these years: all business, no goofiness, her eye only on the prize with no roaming elsewhere. She couldn't afford to.

Her efforts in the qualifying rounds paid off. When the names for the gymnasts going into event finals and all-around finals came in, Yume's name was on both lists. Only then did she finally smile and give off a little shrug, like she knew it was coming.

"C'mon, give yourself a little credit," I joked.

"I gotta hand it to all those other girls out there," she admitted. "They're making my job hard!"

"Sonja's in those finals too."

"I saw that." She wiped at her face with the towel that hung around her neck. "I wouldn't have expected anything different from her. It really IS between her and me."

"Are you gonna go for six medals?"

Yume just smiled. "That'd be one hell of a standard to set. I'm not sure if any one gymnast has ever won six medals in one Olympics. Even Nadia Comaneci only managed five. Everyone has their strong points and their weak points. It'd be great to win six medals, but I'd be kidding myself if I said I would definitely get six. I'd be happy with a gold on the uneven bars."

"You're not gonna settle for just that!" I protested.

"Of course not!" she affirmed, making a face. "I'm still gonna give it my all on all the routines, and if I get gold, good. If I don't, it's not the end of the world."

All I could do was smile; Yume had said her entire life that her dream was to get to the Olympics; she had never mentioned anything about winning any medals; whether that was an unspoken truth or just something that she never gave thought to, I'm not sure. But as long as she had fun out there, I couldn't complain.

The apparatuses had a specific order in which they were done. First was vault, then the uneven bars, then balance beam, and finally, floor. The rules had been changed some years ago to allow the songs used for floor to have lyrics in them, and Yume had decided to take advantage of the rule and use such a song, and, in typical Yume fashion, didn't pick a classical piece. Before taking her turn on floor, she handed me a sheet of paper which had the lyrics, in English and Japanese, on it. Some song from the last century that she'd taken a liking to, she said. The song was over ninety seconds, so she had to trim it down to fit within the time constraint. She had boldfaced the lyrics that were in the part of the song she was using on floor. Before she went out on floor, I took a moment to read over the lyrics.

**_The window burns to light the way back home_**

**_A light that warms no matter where they go_**

**_They're off to find the hero of the day_**

**_But what if they should fall for someone's wicked way_**

**_Still the window burns, time so slowly turns (1)_**

**_Someone there is sighing_**

**_Keepers of the flame, do you hear your name?_**

**_Can you hear your babies crying?_**

_Mama they try and break me…still they try and break me…_

_'Scuse me while I tend to how I feel_

_These things return to me that still seem real_

_Now deservingly this easy chair_

_But the rocking stopped by wheels of despair_

_Don't want your aid, but the first I've made_

_For years can't hold or feel_

_No I'm not all me, so please excuse me_

_While I tend to how I feel_

_**But now the dreams and waking screams that everlast the night (2)**_

**_So build a wall, behind it crawl and hide until it's light_**

**_So can you hear your babies cryin' now?_**

_(1) Repeat_

_(2) Repeat_

_**Mama they try and break me**_

"Yume," I said to myself as she started her floor routine, and along with it, the song whose lyrics were in my hand, "is that how you feel?"

"She's very good," an old voice said next to me. I turned and saw an old man who looked to be in his seventies, wearing a casual suit and a fedora. "Very limber. You barely notice the sleeve on her leg at all."

I had to laugh. The uniforms for Team Japan were red with a white stripe that went diagonally from the left shoulder down to the right hip. Yume's sleeve, being blue, contrasted badly with it, but the old man was right; with how graceful she was, you'd hardly notice it, despite said contrast.

"That's my girl," I said proudly, nodding down at the girl below.

"I see the resemblance," he said, smiling as he stroked his chin, observing Yume. "You must be proud."

"I am."

"The crowd seems to be into it."

I nodded in agreement; everyone in the stands was clapping in time to the music, lending Yume their energy. She fed off of it, even if she showed no outward acknowledgment of it. I could tell, for she sped up her movements, although in truth, the music had truly picked up momentum at that moment as well. "Everyone's watching this kid," I said. "Everyone in the gymnastics world is waiting to see if she can truly make a comeback from the worst injury a gymnast can get."

I turned to get the man's input, but his seat was empty. He was gone.

I looked around my shoulder, then my other one, everywhere. He was nowhere to be seen. Vanished, just like that. "Huh," I said to myself, then shrugged slightly as my attention turned to Yume's final pose as the music faded out.

The crowd was at its feet, and I joined them, hollering her name loudly as I clapped and cheered, hoping in vain that she could hear me. And I swear she did, for at that moment, instead of just walking back to the bench, she turned and looked in my direction, and smiled.

"Now let's see what the judges say about that!" I said to myself as I turned to the scoreboard for the results.

-----

Spending the summer in Nairobi was fun. The two weeks that comprised the Olympics were fun too. But the best part of all was that in the end, for the first time in a year, I was coming home to Tokyo. And when Team Japan's plane touched down and everyone got off the plane, practically everyone in the concourse cheered for us. It was almost embarrassing, but at the same time, I relished the attention. The ultimate in welcome-home parties, even if they didn't know I'd been out of the country since the beginning of last September.

Mom had quickly dragged herself and me away from the crowd and through the airport, with several reporters in hot pursuit, with me only to get off a quick goodbye to my teammates before she swept me away. Waiting for us outside was a black limo, with Nene waiting by the back door, grinning and holding a sign that said "Asagiri." I just laughed as she practically shoved us both into the back seat and climbed in after us, closing the door before the reporters could stick their heads inside.

"You hired a limo?!" I remarked once we were settled and the limo pulled away from the airport.

"Of course," Nene laughed. "What, did you want to ride in the back of Mackie's pickup?"

"No, but maybe something a little less…showy."

"What's wrong with my pickup?" I heard Mackie inquire from the driver's seat of the limo.

"Mackie!!" I exclaimed.

"Hi, Yumeko. Long time."

"Yeah, really long."

Sylia, sitting to Mom's right, reached into the built-in fridge and pulled out a champagne bottle and four glasses – I was still underage – and handed three of them to Mom, Linna, and Nene. She filled each of their glasses, followed by her own. Once that was done, she filled up another glass for me, and I grunted when I realized it was soda water.

"No alcohol for you," Mom teased. "Or did you forget the drinking age is twenty in Japan?"

"I didn't forget. I'd just rather have a real toast."

Sylia lifted her glass. "I would like to toast the reunion of Priss and Yumeko Asagiri, and the welcoming home of the fifth Knight Saber."

"Hear hear!" Mom said loudly as we all clinked glasses.

Everyone took a sip from their champagne, and as I cupped my glass in my hands and took a sip of the soda water, I could feel something cover me, like a blanket. Today was supposed to be a happy day…but at the same time, it wasn't. Today was the eighteenth of August, a meaningful day, and not just because it was the day I was home at last.

"I need to make a stop," I said in a low voice.

"What stop?" Nene started to ask, then her face fell as she realized where I wanted to go.

"Do you want anyone with you?" Linna asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. I shook my head.

"No…I need some privacy. There's a lot I want to say to her."

Mom just nodded to herself in understanding, while Sylia told Mackie about the change in plans.

It seemed like forever, but eventually the limo reached the destination I had in mind. Nene opened the door for me so I could step out, and I did so, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. "We'll be here," she said softly. I nodded in response and walked through the iron gates of my destination. It was strange…the last time I had been here, the trees in the area were just like this: flush, green, birds singing. Then again, the last time I'd been here, it had been this time of year as well. I felt guilty for not being able to visit as much as I could, but then again, I also hadn't wanted to visit. It was only confirmation of what had happened on this date a year ago.

Strangely, my footsteps seemed to remember exactly where to go, and I could feel the weight bear down in my chest as I saw the cherry tree in the distance. She was there. She would always be there, underneath her favorite kind of tree, a tree whose branch she had given my mom for her forty-second birthday. I wondered what this spot had looked like back in March, when cherry blossom petals would have blanketed it. I sighed; I could only imagine, until March came around again.

"Micchan," I moaned, getting down on my knees as I stepped up to her headstone. "Micchan, it's not fair. I miss you. I missed you the whole time I was in California. I still do. I just wish I could apologize for what happened a year ago today. Boh…stabbed you, and he stabbed me too. I was the one he wanted, so I should've died…not you. But there's nothing I can do about it now.

"I'm sure you've been watching me, seeing how I've been trying to go on with my life, do my best, go to the Olympics. Well, guess what? I made it. I had to go to Osaka for one weekend then go right back to Sacramento so I could take my finals, but I did it. I made the number-five spot and went to Nairobi! I was hearing you cheer the whole time. And you know what? My trip bore fruit."

I unzipped my backpack and took hold of a handful of ribbons. Pulling them out, four medals dangled from them and gleamed in the sunlight, clanking as they banged against each other. "Look! I won these in Nairobi!" I pointed at each of them in turn as I explained. "Team Japan got gold, so that's what this one is. This one I won for the uneven bars. And this one, I won for floor." I then pointed at the lone silver medal. "I got this one for all-around. I didn't place on vault or beam, and I guess I don't have to tell you that Sonja was the one who won on beam, and got the gold all-around too. But that's alright. I guess I'll have to make do with just four," I joked. "But at least I won't have to worry about her when the Asian Games roll around in two years! And don't worry, I took pictures. Even got some of myself biting the medals."

I looked at them shining for a moment, then carefully placed them back into the backpack, zipping it shut. "You…always did have faith in me, even when I didn't have any in myself," I said, my voice starting to choke. "It's two years today that I was asked to join the Knight Sabers, a year and a half since the summit, and one year since I lost you. The only reason I kept going after you died was so I could go to the Olympics…go and make you proud. You'd hate me if I gave up on that. So I've kept going…despite how suffocating these feelings get sometimes.

"I'm sorry," I said again, though for a different reason now. "In Sacramento I tried to forget. I didn't want to admit to myself that you were gone, even though I was crying almost nonstop for the first month I was there. I was just…trying to be normal. I sort of have an idea of what that means, though I don't think I'll ever really know. When Mom and Aunt Nene and the others came to the States to save me…it just brought it all back. I hated them for coming, just for that reason. Hated them. But I guess now that I'm home, I can really start to…mourn." I wiped the tears from my eyes when they started to build up. "Mourn, heh. What a strange word. I don't think there's any real way to mourn, or any set period of how long to mourn for. But…I guess I'll do it in my own way, and if nobody else likes it, they can go screw themselves."

I kissed the headstone, just above where her name was inscribed. "I'll come visit often, I promise. And I'll bring daisies. Oh!" I gasped, unzipping my backpack again. "I almost forgot. Mom released a cover CD last month. I know you love her CDs, and I know that you'd want this one, so here." I placed it in front of the headstone. "It's yours. You can listen to it all you want. Track 5 is the one that makes me think of you." Track 5 was Mom's cover of _My Immortal_. "I wish I knew which one might be your favorite, but I'll have to figure that out for myself, I suppose."

I stood up, slinging the backpack over my shoulder again, after I zipped it up. "Bye, Michiko."

The walk back to the limo was a long one. The weight on my chest was still there, but it was a little lighter now. I got to tell her all about the Olympics, although a part of me was certain she'd been watching the whole time from above. Physically she was gone forever, but I firmly believed that as long as I remembered her, that she would never be truly gone. She was here with me, always would be, and not just because I had her necklace around my neck, either. I could feel her. She was saying, "Good job, Yucchan! I'm proud of you! Now you gotta prepare for the '60 Olympics!"

I chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Linna asked when I got back to the limo. Everyone, including Mackie, was standing out on the sidewalk, waiting for me.

"I was just imagining Michiko saying that now I need to prepare for the 2060 Olympic Games," I said. "And why are you all out here?"

"We were worried," Mom said. "I know it's hard to visit here again."

"I needed to. She'd…want to see me."

"I know, hon." She hugged me. "I know."

"There's another reason," Sylia cut in.

"Like what?" I asked.

"There was a report on the radio about some Boomers rampaging in district 17." I started to say something, but she put up a hand to stop me. "The sanctions put in place by the U.N. only prohibited development of new types of Combat Boomers. It did not say to destroy any existing ones."

"What do you say, Yume?" Mom asked with a crooked grin. "Looks like Genom has their own idea for a welcome-home party!" Nene rolled her eyes.

I smirked, giving her an evil look. "So do I. The purple Saber's back in town, and I wanna show 'em what it's all about!"

"I'll take that as a yes, then," Sylia said coyly. "Mackie, let's go."

"Time to go, ladies," Mackie said. "Although heading to battle in a limo's a little unorthodox."

"We're goin' into battle in style!" I asserted.

Nene was about to point out that we weren't heading directly there in a limo, that we would, of course, have to stop by Lady 633 and suit up, but she just shut her mouth and shook her head, chuckling to herself. She, Sylia, and Linna got in, followed by me and Mom, and once Mackie started up the limo again, we were off, on our way to a welcome-home celebration of a different variety. Formal attire: required.

Just like in our final battle before I headed off to Sacramento, again, I heard song lyrics in my head, this time from one of the songs Mom covered. They seemed appropriate:

_The show must go on!_

_The show must go on!_

_Inside my heart is breaking,_

_my make-up may be flaking,_

_but my smile still stays on._

I'd thought our trip to Genom Tower was the last time I would have to wear the purple hardsuit, but as luck would have it, it wasn't. But that was all right with me. With every Boomer I killed, I would show them that they could never take me down, that no matter what they threw at me, I would rise from the ashes like the fabled phoenix, and come back to kick their asses once again, and time and time again.

I was eighteen years old, an Olympic medalist, and a veteran Knight Saber. I had told Nene before I left Tokyo that there was no way I could quit after my rookie year. And I hadn't. I was back and raring to go.

It was my time to shine again.


End file.
